Randwick City Council is urging residents to remove batteries from household appliances before placing them on the kerbside to be collected, after a series of fires in Council trucks recently.

Items such as vacuum cleaners, laptops, tablets, phones, power tools and toys often contain lithium batteries, which can ignite or explode when compacted in trucks.

Since the start of 2025 there have been four fires in Randwick Council garbage trucks that collect bulky household items from the kerbside.

Randwick Mayor Dylan Parker said his council is not alone in facing the challenge of dealing with safely disposing of embedded batteries.

“Every council in the country is facing the challenge of how to safely reuse, recycle or dispose of battery items.

“While most people are aware not to put batteries like AA, AAA and button in their red-lid rubbish bin, it may not be as obvious that electronic and household items left out for kerbside collection may also contain batteries."

“We’re urging residents to remove any batteries from old household items first before placing them on the kerbside for collection. Alternatively people can take the whole item to a community recycling centre near them," Mayor Parker said.

“Our Council staff are being trained to look for items containing batteries and will not collect them due to the danger to themselves and the broader community.”

All types of batteries can be safely disposed at Randwick Recycling Centre on 72 Perry Street in Matraville.

Batteries such as AA, AAA, C, D, 9V, 6V and button cells can also be safely disposed at Bunnings, Coles, Woolworths, ALDI and Council’s Administration building at 30 Frances Street in Randwick. Residents are urged to cover the ends of batteries with sticky tape before dropping them off at collection centres.

Find a location to drop off batteries that’s near you: https://bcycle.com.au/drop-off/

Media enquiries
Rita Mu – 0429 347 999 or rita.mu@randwick.nsw.gov.au
Joshua Hay – 0402 351 459 or joshua.hay@randwick.nsw.gov.au