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Li-ion Battery Fires: When will Enough, be Enough?

Bin Lorry Fire where rubbish had to be ejected onto a busy road in order to tackle the flames

There were over 1,200 lithium-ion battery fires in bin lorries and waste sites across the UK in last year. Data shows that li-ion batteries thrown in household rubbish bins have been the single biggest contributor to the fires in our waste system. New research from Recycle Your Electricals, conducted by Opinium, shows that over 1.1bn electricals and 449. 9m loose batteries were binned in the last year. UK adults admitted that on average they’d binned at least 24 batteries, including fifteen electricals containing batteries and 9 loose batteries. This included 260m vapes. What is more alarming, is that the survey revealed that nearly half of UK adults claim they did not know or hadn’t heard that electrical items containing chargeable built-in batteries can catch fire if crushed or damaged. That's at least half the UK adults who need to go back to school.

450 million loose batteries were binned, not recycled, in the UK last year.

When will enough be enough and the Government step in with a joined up approach on a national level that addresses this issue. The recent “Stop Battery Fires campaign” from Recycle Your Electricals and the National Fire Chiefs Council is attempting to raise awareness alongside councils pleading for residents to stop binning batteries, however way more needs to be done to prevent these items ending up in the waste stream. These fires are costing councils, waste and recycling companies millions of pounds per year, as well as pushing up insurance premiums. Rather than spending the money tackling fires as well as managing the aftermath, would this money not be better spent in investing in providing more recycling solutions for electricals, power tools, vapes and portable batteries? Maybe its time to consider an enforcement strategy to tackle the problem once and for all.


Firefighter tackling a fire caused by a single mobile phone battery

Batteries, unlike bulky rubbish, can be small and discretely slipped into a general waste wheelie bin. And that is the main part of the problem. You can't smuggle your old Plasma TV in the waste, but you can throw your vapes away easily, and are unlikely to get caught, even if you cause a fire that writes off a £80,000 bin lorry. The Government needs to make manufacturers and retailers more responsible for providing convenient recycling points and trade-ins for the public for end of life electrical items. Furthermore, TV, radio and internet campaigns need to be coordinated to raise the public's awareness of websites such as https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/ , making recycling easier and more widely accessible. I am a firm believer that if you make it easy for people to recycle, then people will do it. Similarly, if you incentivise it, people will naturally be motivated to do it. But if it remains inconvenient, and a hassle, people will simply choose not to do it. Its then when the government should step in with the big stick. If you continue to keep slipping such items in general waste, and you are caught then you face environmental fines. Simple!


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