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Dorset reviews kerbside battery collections

Dorset council is reviewing how it collects batteries from the kerbside due to concerns about fires.

Dorset county council council collected 27,180kgs of batteries between April 2020 and March 2021

Dorset currently collects household batteries, including AA, AAA, ‘button’ and rechargeable batteries, from the kerbside in reusable pink plastic bags, separate from other waste and recycling. The council carries out collections via the in-house service on a fortnightly basis.

Between April 2020 and March 2021, the council collected 27,180 kgs of batteries. Once collected, the batteries are bulked in Dorset before being taken to G&P Batteries Ltd in Walsall for recycling.

A spokesperson for the council told letsrecycle.com: “Dorset Council has experienced a number of battery related fires over the past five years. This has caused damage to vehicles and premises.

“Although not definitively linked to lithium-ion batteries in all cases, they are believed to cause to these fires.”

Lisa Mounty, Dorset’s service development officer, told a meeting of the council’s place and resources overview committee last week: “We have discussed the possibility of whether we should be collecting batteries at all, but we do think that if we stop collecting batteries it would actually make the situation worse, because what would probably happen is that some residents would sneak batteries into their wheelie bin – the refuse wheelie bin or the recycling wheelie bin.

If we stop collecting batteries it would actually make the situation worse– Lisa Mounty, Dorset council’s service development officer

“So, we do want to continue providing a separate bag for the batteries to be collected. What we’re doing is looking at how we collect those bags.”

To date, the review has only involved recycling officers. No formal date has yet been established to discuss the issue with elected members.

Separation

Ms Mounty said the council was in the process of trialling a custom-built collection box for batteries fitted to food waste vehicles. She said the council was looking at whether this provided more space to keep batteries separate from other waste.

Ms Mounty also said the council promoted its kerbside service via its magazine, social media, and its newsletter. She added that the council also advertised the various take-back schemes offered at shops and the county’s 10 household waste recycling centres.

Dorset

Representing an estimated population of nearly 380,000, Dorset council had a household waste recycling rate of 58.9% in the 2019/20 financial year.

Dorset council lost 16 vehicles in a devastating fire at its Crookhill depot in Chickerell last November (picture: Dorset council)

The council lost 16 vehicles in a devastating fire at its Crookhill depot in Chickerell last November (see letsrecycle.com story). Rather than being caused by batteries, the fire is believed to have started under the bonnet of one of the RCVs.

Heavy rainstorms and high winds in Chickerell that afternoon led to rainwater entering the vehicle’s electrical circuits, Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service suggested. This caused a short-circuit, igniting the internal components of the vehicle and allowing the fire to take hold.


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