Incorrectly disposing of lithium-ion batteries is a leading cause of fires.
Firefighters are warning the public that tossing everyday items containing these batteries into trash and recycling bins is growing into a national crisis.
What’s happening?
As the BBC reported, the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has been issuing warnings about the dangers of incorrectly placing battery-powered items in recycling bins.
In one community, the department cited nearly 85 tonnes (94 tons) of improperly disposed electrical items that caused 46 fires at a trash sorting site, plus five fires in garbage trucks. The dangers arise when trash companies collect household bins containing batteries and compact the trash, crushing lithium-ion batteries in the process.
The fire department said these fires are preventable and divert resources from other unavoidable emergencies.
“They can instantly burst into flames due to the chemicals inside them,” said the department’s assistant district commander, David Burland, per the BBC.
Why are lithium-ion battery fires significant?
Lithium-ion batteries are prevalent today, powering everything from vape pens to cellphones and power tools. Although they are tiny, these high-energy, powerful batteries can start fires while ejecting gas and shrapnel when they explode.
However, these types of batteries are crucial to the clean energy transition because they enable energy storage from renewable sources such as wind and solar. Lithium-ion batteries are also used in electric vehicles and grid-scale battery storage systems, essential to reducing transportation pollution and making renewable energy a reliable 24/7 solution.
However, fires caused by lithium-ion batteries put people and property at risk, and people have died as a result of catastrophic battery failures.
What’s being done to prevent battery fires?
The West Yorkshire fire department launched a campaign with the city council and local waste management company to raise public awareness about the dangers of battery disposal. It has also advised against buying cheap battery kits online that don’t meet government safety regulations and testing requirements.
Innovators have also been working on new ways to recycle lithium-ion batteries to repurpose their valuable materials and rechargeable batteries that can replace 1,000 disposable ones.
You can do your part as an individual by learning more about this critical climate issue and setting a good example for your community by recycling batteries.
For example, you can often find grocery stores and libraries with special recycling boxes for used batteries. There are well-established battery-recycling programs like Call2Recycle, which partners with major retailers to collect batteries and provide convenient drop-off locations. There’s also an option to mail in used batteries if it’s more convenient.
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