Battery Fires At Recycling Centres Are Costing the UK £1bn a Year (theguardian.com) 53
Wrongly discarded lithium batteries, such as those in vapes, are causing more than 10 fires a week at U.K. recycling centers, according to figures shared with the Guardian:
The Environment Services Association (ESA), the trade body for waste management companies, said its members had reported 1,518 fires in the year to March 2026. At least 541 of these fires were directly attributed to lithium ion batteries, the survey found. There were a further 216 battery fires in bin lorries [garbage trucks]. The ESA said the reported number of battery-related fires underestimated the scale of the problem, because in most incidents it was impossible to determine the cause of the blaze. A spokesperson said: "We know 40% of fires at recycling centres are caused by batteries, but we think the actual number is more like 70%."
It estimates that annual cost of these fires has increased from £150m in 2021 to £1bn today... The ESA is calling for a £5 deposit scheme on the sale of all vapes to ensure that vape users have an incentive to return used devices to retailers for safe disposal... [Patrick Brighty, the head of recycling policy at the ESA, said] "Vapes are among the biggest culprits because they're cheap, abundant and typically have a short use-life."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo for sharing the news.
It estimates that annual cost of these fires has increased from £150m in 2021 to £1bn today... The ESA is calling for a £5 deposit scheme on the sale of all vapes to ensure that vape users have an incentive to return used devices to retailers for safe disposal... [Patrick Brighty, the head of recycling policy at the ESA, said] "Vapes are among the biggest culprits because they're cheap, abundant and typically have a short use-life."
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader AmiMoJo for sharing the news.
Hold up... (Score:3)
If only there was some way to process these flammable batteries in a way that their components could be reused again for batteries, like some sort of cycle that goes again and again, a "recycle" if you will.
I dunno, I'm just spitballing here.
Re: Hold up... (Score:2, Insightful)
We would have to require manufactures to include safe and simple recovery processes.
And regulating businesses is filthy Communism, so maybe that will fly in the UK and EU, but never in the good old USofA.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: Hold up... (Score:2)
Propane tanks / gas bottles are easy to reuse and recycle, but chucking them in a blue bin and dumping them into a truck isn't safe, the logo on the truck doesn't magically make them less combustible.
I think that's the deal here, deposit on disposable vapes keeps them coming back to a place that handles high density batteries in a safer way.
Re:Hold up... (Score:4)
If only there was some way to process these flammable batteries in a way that their components could be reused again for batteries, like some sort of cycle that goes again and again, a "recycle" if you will.
The problem is that there aren't enough of the little appliance-size batteries to economically recycle, but there are enough that sometimes they cause fire.
Re: (Score:1)
One of the easiest solutions would be to require all single-use devices switch to sodium-ion batteries. They are slightly heavier (half the energy density of Li-ion) but they don't cause fires when shorted out and they materials don't use expensive elements like Nickel, Manganese, and Cobalt.
I agree that charging a deposit for li-ion would encourage people to bring in their old devices when purchasing a replacement, or help people search for discarded vapes to receive the $5 / £5 deposit. It could b
Re: (Score:2)
One of the easiest solutions would be to require all single-use devices switch to sodium-ion batteries. They are slightly heavier (half the energy density of Li-ion) but they don't cause fires when shorted out and they materials don't use expensive elements like Nickel, Manganese, and Cobalt.
Don't believe marketing bullshit. There was an awesome video of someone shooting a model of the bluetti power station with sodium batteries when it was turned off. The cells shorted out, caught fire and made quite the flame thrower / fireworks show.
Re: (Score:2)
If they just popped out they could be reused cheaply. Most of them are going to be fine, ready to re-use without any more than a simple test. Some people collect them and build their own home batteries out of discarded vapes.
We could do with an EU level rule that such batteries must be removable without tools and use a standard JST connector.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
What's needed is rules banning selling disposable lithium-ion batteries at all. Their existence is offensive. There are even rechargeable button cells now.
Re:Hold up... (Score:4, Funny)
government: 'you must recycle that battery...'
user: 'ok' (user proceeds to throw battery into standard recycling can)
government: '... properly at a battery recycling receptacle.'
user: 'whatever, I did my part.'
2nd user: 'we're supposed to recycle?'
Re:Hold up... (Score:4, Insightful)
People who vape must either not care about their own health, or to put it bluntly, be stupid.
Given that, why would you expect them to care about anyone else, or proper disposal?
Re: Hold up... (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Nice idea generally. But in this case disposable vapes are illegal in the UK. Trying to put a deposit scheme for them is as likely as putting sales tax on meth.
Re: (Score:1)
Can't recycle here in the US because minimum wage would make it cost too much to have a sustainable business. And, The People don't want to pay someone else to take their laptop or cell phone batteries when they already pay someone to take their newspapers and plastic and stuff.
Same with aluminum pop cans... they ship both over-seas to China and thereabouts where they get recycled for pennies a week and rebuilt, then resold to the US for a massive markup.
People aren't going to want a heavier laptop or cell
The Rest Is Science (Score:3)
The Rest is Science podcast did an episode recently on "Why Lithium Batteries SUCK" (Aug 2). It is an interesting listen, as it mentions alternatives to lithium and their current state.
Ban or tax them (Score:3)
Its the British way!
No, probably neither of these approaches will work.
What's needed is a different battery chemistry, but as long as Lithium batteries are available at low cost, this problem isn't going away.
An ingenious approach would be to enable a resistor to slowly drain the battery along with undervoltage cutoff once a seal is broken and the device is about to be used.
Re:Ban or tax them (Score:4, Funny)
I think the British way would be to require a license to vape.
Re: (Score:2)
Do you have a TV^H^H vape license said the TV^H^H vape license goon to the consumer.,,
Re:Ban or tax them (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
I think the British way would be to require a licence to vape.
FTFY.
Re: (Score:2)
Actually, the "resistor" could be the heating element but PWM'd at a low duty cycle.
Re: Ban or tax them (Score:2)
Whatâ(TM)s odd to me is that the Brits already have a solution to this, theyâ(TM)re just not deploying it. British councils *love* giving people 63 wheely bins for them to sort increasingly difficult to identify waste into. Why not just give out a container for people to put waste batteries/battery containing devices in? Alternatively, do the same as most councils do with glass, and put a big metal box in a fairly central location to contain them until the bin men come and empty it?
Re: (Score:2)
Why not just give out a container for people to put waste batteries/battery containing devices in?
How many batteries per week do you think people in Britain discard?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Ban or tax them (Score:1, Flamebait)
Only if that tax is $5 billion per watt. That is the only way to slap the pussy billionaires in the face of their uneducated uniformed stance on life. Hell every billionaire should be force to pay $10M an hour for them to even be alive. Its a life tax. No different than poor people having to pay a tax on essentials.
Elon zuckerberg and all the other either need to pay their way or die like anyone else. They provide no benefit to humanity.
Re:Ban or tax them (Score:4)
>"What's needed is a different battery chemistry, but as long as Lithium batteries are available at low cost, this problem isn't going away."
What hasn't happened in any significant way is to package lithium batteries in some small, unique sizes (different from non-lithium) and mandate things have openable battery hatches, like we have traditionally had in all battery-operated devices, and used these sizes. There are lithium standards like these:
https://em3ev.com/lithium-batt... [em3ev.com] but they are very difficult to find and don't go small enough for many devices. And there are no standards for rectangular prismatic cells (that I know of).
Manufacturers really love the idea of non-replaceable batteries. It is horrible for consumers, and horrible for the environment, but wonderful for manufacturers because it is slightly less expensive, makes devices smaller/sleeker, and requires consumers to keep rebuying things....
I was recently looking for some wireless phone headsets. Now, suddenly, they ALL have non-replaceable batteries! All of them. I don't want to spend $150 on a quality headset that will become trash in just 2 or 3 years when the battery dies. But what choice do I have? My old Plantronics one that I love had a replaceable one. It was small, lightweight, and sleek, yet had a battery compartment. I have replaced the battery twice (3 batteries total) even though it wasn't a "standard" size, and still use it today. But I what do I buy now for other users?
My toothbrush- non-openable/replaceable.
My Sony stereo headset- non-openable/replaceable.
My watch- non-openable/replaceable.
My USB power bank- non-openable/replaceable.
My micro keyboard- non-openable/replaceable.
My phone- non-openable/replaceable.
My bike light- non-openable/replaceable.
My beard trimmer- non-openable/replaceable.
My hand-held carpet spill cleaner- non-openable/replaceable.
I could go on, but you get the idea. There are countless MILLIONS of these things out there now.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't want to spend $150 on a quality headset that will become trash in just 2 or 3 years when the battery dies. But what choice do I have?
Buy a pair of fairbuds?
Re: (Score:1)
https://us.fairphone.com/fairb... [fairphone.com] -- No parts available in US yet
And, still... so you buy a new battery from them, what do you do with the old one? And, it seems they're Li-Ion (at least, the ones sold in the UK).
They're about equal price, reviews say not the best audio quality.
Re: (Score:2)
The scary part is that a lot of these come with crappy extreme low cost cells, this is especially true in power banks. A $4 Samsung is much different than a $.50 no name cell. Most people have no idea about cell quality.
The problem is obvious (Score:5, Insightful)
If it's very easy to properly dispose of something, it will be disposed properly.
If it requires driving across town, when the recycling facility is open, waiting in line, filling out a form and paying a fee, proper recycling will be rare
Re: The problem is obvious (Score:2)
833,333 GBP per fire avg? (Score:3, Interesting)
so they're saying 1200 fires cost 1B GBP.
That's 830K GBP average per fire which seems... rather high. Don't these places have some form of on site fire detection and suppression? like some fire hoses or something. These little batteries don't have THAT much energy in them; they're not EVs.
(and yes even EVs you use water on if they catch fire. just a lot of it over a long time. i mean ideally you'd just put it in a container of water and top of the water as needed as it boils off )
Re:833,333 GBP per fire avg? (Score:5, Interesting)
That's 830K GBP average per fire which seems... rather high.
It's... not.
Most of the fires pass without notice and the facility will be back up and running in an hour or two. Occasionally one gets out of hand and a £40mn facility burn to the ground.
An two hour outage isn't free either, but the majority of the cost come from the occasional incredibly destructive one.
Don't these places have some form of on site fire detection and suppression? like some fire hoses or something.
I mean sure you can assume everyone who works in a field you know nothing about is a massive bunch of numpties who can't think of basic things like installing fire suppression. Or...
Well tell you what, if you're in the UK, why not come to the RWM expo in Birmingham (might even be free to non exhibitors) and have a look at the somewhat impressive range of industrial fire suppression equipment available for waste facilities. E.g.
https://www.ess-expo.co.uk/202... [ess-expo.co.uk]
These facilities have fire suppression. Lots of it, with massive water reserves and often diesel pumps in case the electricity supply goes down. And fire detection in a very dusty environment is also hard because too many false positives will overwhelm your operating margins.
.
Re: (Score:2)
These facilities have fire suppression. Lots of it, with massive water reserves and often diesel pumps in case the electricity supply goes down....
That's what I assumed and why the 1b GBP in ANNUAL losses number seems so unlikely. let's say 800 million is due to these larger 40 million GBP each losses .. that would be 20 such facilities per year! and still 200m left for the smaller stuff.
I haven't looked into the source for the 1B number but on background I have a hard time believing it
Re: (Score:2)
They do make the news, but often only the regional news. Did you read about the fire in Bermondsey or Avonmouth? Both were on the BBC somewhere.
Looks like a failure of wasre managers (Score:1)
Re: (Score:3)
Brilliant! Why don't we find those "waste managers" and give them a good talking to, maybe even a vigorous finger wagging. I will find my waste manager forthwith and maybe fire him. Then maybe ask my butler to find a new one.
For the rest of the plebs who don't have a waste manger, they chuck stuff in the recycling bin. Unfortunately a small but significant number of arseholes chuck bad shit in there too.
Why are vapes even using litium batteries? (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Multiple reasons.
One is they have a very high power density, both specific and volumetric. You need quite a lot of power to vapourise water and lithium is the winner here. Largely speaking, small, especially disposable vapes appear to be limited by the power density of battery chemistries not the energy density.
Pouch cells are also really good for small batteries because they don't have a prismatic metal shell, and they can easily be made to custom shapes.
It is an incredible waste of resources.
Copy Germany's "Pfand" system (Score:2)
Germany pays you to recycle plastic bottles with the "pfand" system. Implement the same with batteries and the likes, load an extra cost at purchase time and get that money back once you properly recycle
Just put a deposit on LiPo and Li-Ion (Score:2)
Say EUR 5 is so. Voided for safe battery chemistries. Make everybody that sells any LiPo or Li-Ion batteries and devices take every one back, regardless of whether they sell that particular one. Yes, businesses will scream, ignore them.
Re: (Score:1)
And, then what does the business do? Pay a buttload of $$$ (or euros) to have someone take the box of devices/batteries and ship it to China to "maybe" be recycled?
And, once you put this system into place, you'll probably see BEV batteries going missing because a group of druggies ran a pit stop on your car overnight, and anyplace else that might have lots of LiPo or Li-Ion will see an increase in stealing so they can score a few hits of whatever (at The Lab when I was there, some druggies came and tried t
Re: (Score:2)
What a stupid comment. Did you even read what the story was about?
Vapes are not a survival or economic need. (Score:2)
Ban them for safety reasons.
Nicotine addicts have plenty of delivery options including lozenges.
Selling products intended for volatile substance abuse is illegal in the UK. Products inherently designed in a way that their normal real world disposal is dangerous make sense to regulate.
Not everything everyone wants to do makes sense for society to permit, including producing flammable products whose nature makes them into incendiaries when broken.
I inert all my expended lithium cells by destruction either in