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Veolia sees one fire a day from WEEE in residual waste bins

In a new campaign, Veolia has urgently warned the UK public to be cautious when throwing away WEEE. The campaign aims to alert consumers to the real danger presented to the people who collect, sort and process their waste, as well as to other members of the general public. 

Waste fire Veolia

Several campaign videos have been published across social media showing real footage of fires and explosions. 

The waste management company has said that on average it records one preventable fire a day from residents putting dangerous items in residual waste bins.  

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the danger and damage as a result of vehicle and facility fires caused by vapes, electrical items, batteries or gas canisters. These items are extremely flammable when crushed.  

Veolia has issued the following advice for consumers: 

  • Used vapes should be taken back to retailers, never placed in household recycling or rubbish bins or in on-street litter bins. 
  • Electrical items – items with batteries, plugs, cables or hidden batteries such as those found in children’s toys and electrical toothbrushes – can be recycled but they must be handled safely at dedicated facilities. Residents can find local recycling points here 
  • Batteries can be easily recycled at dedicated recycling points, which can be found here 
  • Gas bottles and nitrous oxide (Nox) canisters need to be handled safely during disposal. In most cases, residents needing to dispose of gas bottles or canisters can take them to their local Household Reuse and Recycling Centre, but this should be checked locally. 

Disposing of these items in any other manner puts collection crews and the staff at recycling and waste sorting and processing facilities at risk of burns, chemical exposure and smoke inhalation – injuries that can be life-changing. It also causes damage to vital recycling infrastructure. 

Cory Reynolds, director of corporate affairs at the Northern Europe Zone of Veolia UK, said: “At Veolia we pride ourselves on carrying out essential services whilst putting safety first in the workplace, and we do not accept our people or the communities we serve being put in danger.  

“This campaign is necessary to educate residents on how to ensure their waste is safe, and we ask everyone to make these simple changes that will greatly decrease the chance of fires in collection vehicles and sorting facilities. This will have a huge impact on keeping the vital industry we work in safe and ensure that the people that handle waste are kept out of harm’s way whilst protecting the valuable materials residents work hard to separate for recycling.”


If you want to find out more about fire safety and prevention, make sure you attend the Fire Prevention and Control Conference 2024 in Birmingham on 13th November 2024. See the full agenda and book tickets here.

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