News / recycling
Recycling firm warns of festive fire hazards from incorrectly disposed batteries
As the festive season reaches its peak, with lithium battery-powered toys and indoor decorations adding to the glad tidings, a local waste management firm has issued a warning about the incorrectly disposed batteries, which pose a potential fire hazard.
Grundon, a waste management specialist operating in Bristol, Gloucestershire, and surrounding areas, has singled out disposable vapes and lithium batteries as the main culprits behind dozens of improper disposal cases handled by its staff this year, including several fires at its sites and on vehicles.
Toni Robinson, newly-appointed as risk and sustainability director at Grundon, has urged the public to properly recycle Christmas items and dispose vapes, especially during the festive season.
“Batteries become essential during the festive season,” she said. “No electronic gift or light-up tree topper is complete without them. Last year, six billion batteries were thrown away, including over 1.1 billion electricals containing hidden lithium-ion batteries.
Toni Robinson, newly-appointed as risk and sustainability director at Grundon, has urged the public to properly recycle Christmas items and dispose vapes – photo: Rob Lacey Photographer
“Notably, vaping has become increasingly popular across the UK, with an estimated 3.6 million Brits now using vapes. Of these, 20 per cent opt for disposable vapes, which, like many festive decorations, rely on lithium batteries and contain various materials that pose recycling challenges.”
The seasonal increase in battery usage, particularly lithium batteries, can lead to serious safety risks if disposed of incorrectly in general waste or mixed recycling, Robinson warned.
In 2024, Grundon’s Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) recorded over 50 incidents linked to improper lithium battery disposal. These batteries, when crushed during processing, have the potential to explode or ignite, posing significant dangers to waste facility workers.
Despite fire detection and suppression systems in place at the facilities, fires occurring on waste collection vehicles present serious risks to both employees and the public. Grundon operates out of locations in St Philip’s, Bristol, and Bishop’s Cleeve near Cheltenham.
Robinson has urged residents and businesses to ensure proper disposal of lithium batteries.
She said: “Unfortunately, too many people don’t appreciate the need to do this and often it’s not easy to do, as the battery can be integrated into the design of the product. For example, vapes with internal batteries are encased within the device and cannot be easily removed or replaced.
“When purchasing these items, people should think about the design of the product and whether it has been created for the long term or as a disposable item. Often these disposable items have batteries that can’t be replaced, so they’ll end up being thrown away.
She called for a societal shift towards more sustainable consumer choices, encouraging the purchase of longer-lasting products with replaceable batteries to facilitate easier recycling and reduce waste.
Robinson said: “As a society, we need to think more sustainably and try to buy goods that last longer and have batteries that can be changed. This way, used batteries can be easily recycled.
“For businesses, we’d urge them to ensure any batteries are separated from waste streams so they can be sent for recycling – Grundon can help you with this by providing separate containers.
“This not only ensures that the batteries don’t cause any harm, but also means that valuable materials such as lithium, cobalt and manganese can be recovered. If batteries are sent for recycling, then up to 95 per cent can be recovered, which makes perfect sense.”
Grundon has singled out disposable vapes and lithium batteries as the main culprits behind dozens of improper disposal cases handled by its staff this year – photo: Grundon
Robinson, first female director of the firm when she assumed the role in August, also welcomed the announcement from the government that disposable vapes will be banned from June 2025.
“This is hopefully the start of legislation being put in place to help manage the situation,” concluded Robinson.
“We need to hope that the Extended Producer Responsibility measures will ensure the true cost of putting these products onto the market and recycling them are covered.”
Main photo: Grundon
Read next:
Our top newsletters emailed directly to you
