More than 700 fires in waste trucks and sites are caused by batteries that haven’t been removed from electricals, according to research conducted by Material Focus amongst local authorities across the UK. The research was commissioned to raise awareness of a new campaign by Recycle Your Electricals - “Stop Battery Fires Campaign” - to raise awareness of how householders can recycle their batteries and electricals.
There are three and half times more fires now caused by batteries in the waste stream than previously reported. The research surveyed 60 UK local authorities with nearly 90% of these local authorities saying that fires caused by batteries are an increasing problem.
If batteries, or electricals containing batteries, end up inside bins or household recycling lorries with other materials then they are crushed in the waste and recycling process. This increases the chances that they could be punctured and self-combust, setting fire to dry and flammable waste and household recycling around them.
