CFOA urges waste operator vigilance in heatwave

The advice comes as temperatures soared to 32-33C yesterday – the hottest day recorded for July since records began.

The weather has already caused issues for some councils, with Bath and East Somerset suspending its recycling vehicles yesterday after their waste compactors overheated.

The heatwave, which is expected to last through the remainder of the week, has created dry conditions that CFOA warns could assist the rapid spread of fire.

To combat the issue, operators of waste and recycling sites are advised to remove any potential ignition sources and continue to separately store combustible materials.

In 2013, CFOA voiced its frustration at the waste industry following a spate of fires that took up a large proportion of its firefighting resources.

Fire

In response, the organisation helped set up a Fire Futures Forum to address the problem, and introduced a technical guidance note for operators which has since been amended and adopted by the Environment Agency (see letsrecycle.com story).

Commenting on the risks, CFOA director of operations Roy Wilsher, said: “The current period of warm weather certainly creates additional fire risk across a wide range of sectors. Dry conditions clearly create an environment that assists with the rapid spread of fire and therefore taking extra precautions is sensible.

“The removal and mitigation of potential ignition sources, along with the appropriate separation of combustible and flammable materials, become even more important during periods of prolonged dry weather. Increased vigilance, good housekeeping regimes and appropriate security measures are also key to protecting waste and recycling sites from the threat of fire, and these measures should receive extra attention during periods of very hot weather.”

Bath & North Somerset council was forced to apologise to residents yesterday after it was unable to finish waste collections due to the heat.

The weather caused the electrical circuits on its vehicles’ compactors to overheat – an issue that the council claimed many other local authorities were dealing with.

Delays

Councillor Martin Veal, cabinet member for Community Services, said: “Our priority is to ensure waste is not left out longer than necessary.  The waste management team are working to resolve the delays as quickly as possible. We ask residents to bear with us. This is an issue local authorities across the country are having to deal with during this spell of exceptionally high temperatures. Collections services will return to normal as soon as possible.”

A council spokesman confirmed to letsrecycle.com that the vehicles are expected to be ‘back on track’ by the end of today.

• To find out more about preventing and tackling fires, join us at the annual Health and Safety Conference on 16 July to hear from the London Fire Brigade.