The new national Take Charge campaign urges consumers to “join the fight against Zombie batteries” and only recycle ‘dead batteries’ using specialist battery recycling services and to avoid throwing them in the general rubbish or other recycling.
The ESA, which represents UK waste management companies, said that the campaign will involve an “open sourced’ approach, where local authorities, waste companies and stakeholders can access a range of materials through the website (takecharge.org.uk), such as pre-made social media posts, in order to drive the message forward to consumers.
Data
Around 40% of councils over a kerbside collection for used batteries according to the Association. However newly released data from the ESA shows that for the period between April 2019 and March 2020, the proportion of all fires reported at members’ facilities caused by lithium-ion batteries , rose from around a quarter of all fires to more than a third (38%.)
This equates to around 250 fires started by a li-ion battery during the 12 month period.
The ESA added however, that for many fires, the precise cause is never established, which means it is “likely that batteries are responsible for an even greater proportion of fires at facilities operated by both the private and public sector”.
The ESA said that dead batteries thrown away with other waste and recycling, which the campaign refers to as ‘zombie batteries’ are like to be crushed or punctured one the date is collected and processed.
The association added that some barely types, such as lithium-ion and nickel-metal hydride, can ignite or even explode when they’re damaged.
The organisation hopes that the “encouraging people to recycle batteries responsibly will reduce the number of zombie batteries present in general waste and recycling”.
‘Carelessly discarded’
Executive director of the ESA, Jacob Hayler said: “Unfortunately, the majority of batteries thrown away in the UK at the moment are not recycled properly. Fires caused by carelessly discarded batteries endanger lives; cause millions of pounds of damage and disrupt waste services. We urge consumers to please recycle batteries responsibly by using battery recycling points in shops and recycling centres, or a separate battery kerbside collection if available.”
Mark Andrews, NFCC waste fires lead and assistant chief fire officer of east Sussex fire and rescue service, said: “Batteries in household waste and recycling can lead to large scale and protracted fires. These incidents are often very challenging for fire services to deal with and can cause significant disruption to communities.”
“Many people may not realise the importance of the correct disposal of batteries so this simple advice can make a real difference in preventing waste fires.”
Ross Watson, ESH Manager at Viridor will be presenting the Take Charge campaign at the Fire Prevention & Control in the Waste and Recycling Sector Conference on 11th November. To view the full programme visit www.fireconf.com
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