Certain items are dangerous if they are placed in household bins. Vapes, electrical items, batteries, and gas (Nox) canisters can all cause fires and explosions, putting real people in danger and impacting vital recycling and waste infrastructure.
Batteries:
Batteries are a major cause of fires in recycling and waste facilities, impacting infrastructure and putting real people in danger.
Fires in collection vehicles and recycling and waste facilities put real people at risk and can spread rapidly, putting operatives, firefighters, and the general public at the risk of burns, chemical exposure, and smoke inhalation.
Vapes:
When you put vapes in your household rubbish or recycling bins, you’re putting real people in danger.
When vapes are crushed, the lithium-ion batteries inside them become extremely flammable. This causes problems in collection vehicles as recycling or waste is crushed in the back of the vehicle to make space. If a fire breaks out in the back of the vehicle, both the collection crew and the general public are put in danger until the fire is extinguished. It also slows down the collection service and causes traffic on roads.
Gas Bottles:
Throwing gas bottles like Nox canisters into your household recycling or waste bins can cause explosions and fires.
Gas bottles can cause explosions when they’re crushed, even when they’re empty. If this happens in the back of a collection vehicle, at a recycling sorting facility, or at an energy recovery facility handling waste, it can cause serious injury to the people working there who deliver an essential service to the community.
Please visit Veolia’s website for more information: https://www.veolia.co.uk/dangerous-waste#readmore
Please visit Solihull MBC website for ways to recycle or dispose safely these items: https://www.solihull.gov.uk/Rubbish-and-recycling
Ken Hawkins 