America’s trash handlers - and the companies and municipalities which employ them - are sounding the alarm over fires in trash trucks caused by lithium-ion batteries.
They’re integral to our daily lives, powering everything from cordless tools to cell phones, flying drones, kitchen thermometers and electric toothbrushes. They’re in anything which charges via USB.
And they can be dangerous.
“If they get hot and they bulge and they bump into each other or bump into something else in the truck load, or [while] being dumped, they can easily catch on fire before they're even crushed,” explained Rachele Klein with Republic Services, the waste pickup company used by every major city in Idaho.
Republic has had 10 ten of its trucks catch fire in the last two years. Eight fires were caused by batteries thrown in the trash; the most recent was caused by a battery in a vape pen.
Drivers are trained on what to do when they detect a fire on a truck, starting with the potential of compressing the load on-board to smother a fire.
“If they can't extinguish the fire while on the truck, get to a safe place to eject it,” Klein said.
Drivers work with Republic’s dispatchers to find a suitable location and the coordination typically leads to a quick response from first responders if a ‘hot load’ is dumped in an open space.
Klein said the 10 fires in two years have destroyed five trucks, at a replacement cost of more than $400,000 each. The company is fortunate none of the fires have happened in any of the more than three dozen fully-electric trucks it owns, which cost between $800,000-$900,000.
The batteries also contribute to fires at landfills. Ada County says it deals with between 1-3 fires every week at the Seamans Gulch landfill, but, so far those haven’t caused any injuries or equipment losses.
Items with lithium-ion batteries are considered hazardous waste, and should be disposed of through local hazardous waste or battery recycling programs, never in household trash.
“There are household hazardous waste collection events and you can take your lithium-ion batteries to any of the collection events,” Klein said.
The National Waste and Recycling Foundation in association with the U.S. Forest Service has launched an education campaign on the safe disposal of rechargeable batteries.
The city of Boise has safety tips on proper battery disposal on the curb-it household hazardous waste website. A calendar with location information for the city’s mobile hazardous waste collection sites is also available.
In Canyon County, household hazardous waste is accepted at the Pickles Butte landfill, and the county hosts four collection events annually. The next one is June 12 at the O’Conner Field House in Caldwell.
Residents in other areas can check with their local waste collection utility for information on how to properly dispose of lithium-ion batteries.
