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The devastating fire at a Glenfield recycling centre has highlighted the escalating danger of lithium-ion batteries in kerbside waste.
The Abilities Group recycling plant on North Shore went up in flames on April 24, burning to the ground and destroying vital equipment. The facility provided employment and support for more than 100 people with disabilities.
Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation by Fire and Emergency NZ (FENZ), it is suspected that batteries at the site may have contributed to the blaze.
Auckland Council has an ongoing campaign to raise awareness of the risk posed by incorrectly discarded batteries, especially lithium-ion types found in everyday electronic items like phones, vapes and toys.
The council says batteries in rubbish are causing an increasing number of fires in rubbish collection trucks and at waste transfer stations with 20 fires last year, and 13 truck fires already recorded this year.
WasteMINZ, which represents the waste and recycling industry, is backing the call for urgent action. Its chief executive, Nic Quilty, said frontline workers such as truck drivers and recycling plant staff face serious risks daily from incorrectly discarded batteries.
Last November, WasteMINZ and Auckland Council joined forces with Christchurch City Council to ask the government for a national strategy. They want a mandatory product stewardship scheme for batteries under 5kg, which would see disposal costs built into the price of battery-powered products. This would help fund safe collection, recycling, and public education campaigns, Quilty says.
As battery disposal rules currently vary across the country, it makes it hard for people to know what to do with them, she says.
“The public message needs to be consistent, but we can’t do that unless we have a nationwide strategy for battery disposal.”
A map of battery drop-off sites is available on the WasteMINZ website, and both councils and private operators accept certain battery types.
The Hibiscus Coast has three battery disposal sites; Bunnings Warehouse Silverdale, Mitre10 Mega Silverdale and the Whangaparāoa Community Recycling Centre.
Go to www.wasteminz.org.nz/our-work/hot-topics/battery-collection-facilities for more information on your nearest facility.
Why lithium-ion batteries catch fire
Lithium-ion batteries can catch fire when they are damaged, overheated, or incorrectly disposed of. Inside a lithium-ion battery are chemicals that store energy. If the battery is crushed, punctured, exposed to heat, or has a manufacturing fault, it can short-circuit. This causes the battery to overheat. When one part of the battery gets too hot, it can trigger a chain reaction. The heat causes the next cell in the battery to overheat, which then affects the next one, and so on. This process is called thermal runaway. As the temperature rises, the battery may catch fire or even explode. The fire can be very intense and hard to put out because the battery contains flammable chemicals that produce their own oxygen, feeding the flames.
