Tauranga: Lithium-ion batteries in kerbside bins start fires at recycling centre

The power bank with a lithium-ion battery inside that caused a fire at Tauranga’s recycling processing centre recently. Photo / Supplied

Binned lithium-ion batteries have caused seven fires in a year at Tauranga’s recycling processing centre, the city council says.

It is reminding residents of Tauranga and the Western Bay not to dispose of batteries in their kerbside recycling bins.

The most recent fire in early March was caused by a lithium-ion battery in a power bank incorrectly disposed of in a kerbside recycling bin, the council said in a statement.

The same kind of battery was also believed to have caused the other fires.

In each case, the fires were detected quickly and caused a minimum amount of damage and no one was harmed.

Batteries could not be disposed of in recycling or rubbish bins because of the danger they pose to people and equipment if they explode or catch fire during processing, the statement said.

Tauranga City Council’s waste operations and compliance team leader, Hope Lawsen, said lithium batteries were highly flammable under pressure and could catch fire or explode when collection trucks compressed their contents.

“Even smaller household batteries such as AA, AAA and button batteries can’t be recycled through our kerbside collections, or placed into kerbside rubbish bins, as they release dangerous chemicals when they break down.”

Western Bay of Plenty District Council solid waste contract manager, Tony Wilson, said recycling needed to be done safely.

”Our residents are eager to recycle as much as possible and that’s fantastic, but batteries are a special case, and they need to be recycled carefully at a dedicated facility.

”Our priority is the safety of our community, and the team collecting and sorting our recycling. No harm should come to anyone through the collection of our district’s rubbish and recycling.

“Please don’t put any battery, no matter how big or small, into your kerbside landfill or recycling bin,” Wilson said.

Batteries can be recycled safely, at no cost, at the following locations:

• Te Maunga Transfer Station (next to Trustpower Baypark)
• Recycling centres in Te Puke, Katikati and Athenree
• Small household batteries can go to any Western Bay of Plenty Library and Service Centre (Te Puke, Barkes Corner, Ōmokoroa, Katikati and Waihī Beach).

For the Western Bay locations, only household battery recycling drop-off was available, and this did not include businesses or community services.

From those locations, the batteries are recycled through the free e-waste (electronic waste) service and go on to be collected by a third-party battery recycling scheme.

Types of batteries that can be recycled for free at Council facilities:

• AAA, AA, D cell etc.
• Button batteries
• Lithium-ion batteries (found in phones, power banks, power tools, computers etc.)

Large batteries, including car batteries, can also be recycled for free at Te Maunga Transfer Station (next to Trustpower Baypark), and the recycling centres in Te Puke, Katikati and Athenree.

All kerbside recycling bins from Tauranga and Western Bay are sorted in Tauranga.