Jul 315 min read

Binned Batteries Cause Merton Fire Risk

Blog by Franki Appleton

The Wheel Project Manager

In the early hours of Saturday 21st July, 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters were called to tackle a blaze at the Suez Recycling Centre in Morden. The Fire Brigade has recorded the fire as accidental, with the most probable cause being a lithium battery that ignited within the waste.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson stated:

“Lithium-ion battery fires are a major risk. We’ve seen a growing number of fires at waste disposal sites that are believed to have been caused by a lithium battery.”

50 people from homes near the site had to be evacuated as a safety precaution while firefighters battled the flames. Concerns about the drastically reduced air quality due to the heavy smoke led local residents to be advised to keep windows and doors closed. Material Focus warns that battery fires cause local air pollution levels to spike, often breaking World Health Organisation (WHO) limits and affecting the health of local communities. With air pollution being a significant public health issue, and the urgent need to prevent more CO2 from entering the atmosphere, another large fire in our borough is the last thing we need.

The Increase in Waste Fires Caused by Batteries

In May this year, the Guardian reported that fires caused by lithium-ion batteries ending up in waste have increased by 71% in the UK since 2022. There have been more than 1,200 battery-caused fires in the waste system in the past 12 months, compared with 700 in 2022. Research from Recycle Your Electricals shows that over 1.1 billion electricals and 449.9 million loose batteries were binned in the last year, including 260 million vapes.

When batteries are crushed or damaged, they can self-combust and explode, causing fires. The compounds in the batteries also create oxygen, which can cause the fire to reignite, making it difficult to control. There have been fires in bin lorries and at energy recovery and recycling centres across the UK.

Why We Need to Recycle Batteries in a Circular Economy

It’s not just the risk of fires that should deter us from throwing batteries and e-waste in the general waste bin. All tech objects made with new, non-recycled materials rely on the extraction of minerals, metals and fossil fuels from the ground. In the case of batteries, lithium needs to be mined from the earth, often extracted through evaporation ponds built on salt flats in South America. The production of lithium uses a lot of water, approximately 2.2 million litres to produce one ton of lithium, or around 21 million litres per day.

Extraction of raw materials has a damaging impact on the environment, negatively affecting water quality and quantity, biodiversity, air quality, and soil quality. It can weaken ecosystem functions and increase global warming. In Chile, where lithium mining consumes, contaminates and diverts scarce water resources away from local communities, this has led to water-related conflicts.

Lithium-ion batteries also contain cobalt. More than half of the world’s cobalt is mined from the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. A 2016 Amnesty International investigation found children and adults in southern DRC working in hand-dug cobalt mines facing serious health risks and human rights abuses. We can’t simply throw these precious materials, which have had such a high environmental and human cost, into a general waste bin destined for incineration.

By recycling lithium-ion batteries, precious materials can be recovered for reuse, including copper and aluminium that make up the anode and cathode of the batteries, along with the cobalt, manganese and nickel salts. This is the essence of a circular economy.

What Items are a Battery Fire Risk?

The most obvious types of batteries in our homes are the AA, AAA, AAAA, D, C, 9-Volt and Button batteries used in remote controls, fire alarms, scales, alarm clocks and children’s toys. Although these are often alkaline type batteries with a low voltage, if their negative and positive terminals come into contact with something metal, heat begins to build. If they are in a confined space, surrounded by rubbish, they will eventually get hot enough to ignite the surrounding materials.

However, if the batteries contain lithium, the fire risk increases dramatically. Some household items might not be at the forefront of our minds when thinking about lithium-ion batteries, and can easily end up in the general waste bin when the item has come to the end of its life. These items include electric toothbrushes, wireless headphones, disposable vapes, tablets,e-readers, watches, and even musical greetings cards. While mobile phone and laptop models used to have batteries that were easily removed, many recent models make it nearly impossible for the average user to disconnect the lithium-ion batteries from the device.

Recent research by Recycle Your Electricals’ found that nearly half of UK adults didn’t know or hadn’t heard that electrical items containing chargeable built-in batteries can catch fire if crushed or damaged. If any of these items are put in general waste or recycling bins, there is a real risk of a fire starting that could be devastating, which the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) calls a disaster waiting to happen.

What are the Options for Safe Disposal and Recycling of Batteries?

The good news is that waste fires caused by batteries are entirely preventable, and we have options for the safe disposal of end-of-life batteries right here in Merton.

Tech and e-waste

Broken and irreparable tech and electrical items with built-in batteries (such as laptops, mobile phones, electric toothbrushes, wireless headphones, and tablets) can be dropped off for recycling at a growing number of shops and recycling hubs:

Garth Road Household Reuse and Recycling Centre: Merton residents can recycle household electricals.

Currys: Drop off your small tech and electrical items and cables for free recycling.

B & Q: Drop off your small tech and electrical items and cables for free recycling.

Supermarkets: Many larger supermarkets in Merton also have tech recycling collections. It’s best to check in your local store first before taking your items.

Loose Batteries

Used household batteries (such as AA, AAA, AAAA, 9-volt, D, C and Button batteries) can be dropped off for recycling at a growing number of shops and recycling hubs:

Small, medium and large supermarkets: Many local supermarkets in Merton (such as Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons, Asda, Aldi, Tesco and Lidl) have plastic tubs near the check out to collect household batteries for recycling. Many supermarkets have also started to collect disposable vapes for recycling.

Pharmacies: High street pharmacies such as Boots and Superdrug often have household battery collection bins.

Petrol Stations: Local Shell and Esso petrol stations have collection bins for household batteries.

Garth Road Household Reuse and Recycling Centre: Merton residents can recycle household batteries and car batteries.

To find the electricals, tech, and battery recycling locations closest to you, visit Recycle Your Electricals. Together we can stop harmful battery fires.

Take a look through The Wheel's Electronics and Tech Waste Reduction page for all the links to electronic and tech recycling, reuse and repair options in Merton.