Council concerned after three fires in 12 months from batteries wrongly put in kerbside bins

This truck caught fire in Melville last week after a vape battery was wrongly put in a recycling bin. Photo / Hamilton City Council

Hamilton City Council is concerned about the frequency of battery fires in its recycling trucks and processing plant and is urging people not to dispose of batteries of any size in any of their kerbside bins.

This follows the third incident in 12 months of a battery causing fires in a collection truck or at the council facility, where recycling is sorted.

All batteries may be disposed of for free at the Resource Recovery Centre in Lincoln Street, Hamilton.

The most recent incident was last Thursday, February 23, when a vape battery the size of an adult’s thumb caused a recycling collection truck to catch fire in Melville.

A vape had been disposed of in a yellow kerbside recycling bin and caused a fire in the collection truck in Dowding Street. The council says recycling and landfill bins compact the contents during collection. Lithium batteries are highly flammable under pressure and can catch fire or even explode.

In this case, the EnviroWaste driver, who was unharmed, noticed the smoke and reacted quickly. Fire and Emergency New Zealand responded and extinguished the fire swiftly.

The council’s Sustainable Resource Recovery Unit director, Tania Hermann, says these instances are too common.

“I am so pleased the driver was unharmed and responded quickly - there was potential we could’ve been telling a very different story. This is the third incident of a battery causing fires within the last 12 months in a collection truck or at our Materials Resource Facility, where recycling is sorted. All because of an item that should never have been in a kerbside bin in the first place.

“Our priority is the safety of our staff and contractors. No one wants to be responsible for another person getting injured. Please don’t put any battery into your kerbside landfill or recycling bin, no matter how big or small.”

Lithium is found in batteries from vacuum cleaners and other appliances, laptops and scooters. AA and AAA batteries also leach into the soil as they corrode.