Most people don’t think about recycling centres every day. However, we never leave home without our mobile phone, laptop, or iPad.
These devices make communication easier for work and leisure, and we won’t move backwards. However, because these devices are portable, they use batteries that need charging. These are not simple AA batteries. They are lithium-ion batteries, and they must be disposed of with great care. If you throw them away incorrectly, they can catch fire.
Here is just one example of that:
Li-ion batteries were implicated in a plane crash in Dubai in 2010 and consignments of these batteries are now banned from UK and US aircraft, although individual passengers are still allowed to take their laptops on board. Passengers may take spare batteries in their carry-on luggage if precautions are taken to prevent short circuits.
Recently, you may have heard about the many fires hitting recycling centres. These fires often happen because lithium metal heats up when exposed to water. And yes—here in the UK, we get plenty of rain.
Many facilities that recycle waste sit close to residential areas. Therefore, these fires cause major disruption to local communities. This story even made headlines in February of this year:
Lithium-Ion Batteries Blamed for Major Recycling Waste Fires
This week, a major fire engulfed a recycling centre. This time, the blaze hit the Parr Industrial Estate on Merseyside. The fire at the Viridor site in St Helens started around 5:40 a.m. on Saturday. Investigators believe Lithium-Ion batteries most likely caused it.
Another Viridor site in Dunbar also suffered a fire in January, again linked to Lithium-Ion batteries. This latest blaze was huge, sending a 30-metre tower of black smoke into the sky. Fire crews battled the flames for 17 hours. The area of recycling waste affected measured roughly 50 by 50 metres.
The Environmental Services Association (ESA), the trade body representing the UK’s resource and waste management industry, reports that of the 510 fires reported by ESA members across the UK in 2017-18, a quarter (25%) were attributed to li-ion batteries, up from 20% in the previous year.
So what can we do?
One suggested solution is to add electronic tags to these batteries. This would help waste firms detect them if they enter normal rubbish. The ESA has pushed battery manufacturers to use this technology, but so far nothing has changed.
For now, as a householder, always check your items before bagging any rubbish. Remove any Lithium-Ion batteries and keep them in one pile. You can then dispose of them safely under the hazardous waste category instead of mixing them with general recycling waste.
This will help to reduce the risk of fire and anything which reduces risk is always a positive never a negative (Excuse the pun.)
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