We stumbled over a post in Digital Trends on May 22, 2018 that we thought we ought to share. Simply because it concerns the fact that people are still dumping smartphones, hover boards, vape pens, and more in the garbage. Please, do not trash your devices without first removing the battery packs, and handing them in for recycling responsibly. We would not want you to bear the consequences of a possible tragedy if you were not careful.
More Good Reasons Why You Should Never Trash Your Devices
In California, the state government blamed exploding batteries for 65% of waste facility fires last year. Moreover, a battery caused a fire in New York that burned a Queens recycling plant for two days. People work at these places to make Earth a healthier, greener place. Let’s not make their job any harder please. Therefore, let us not expose these workers to hazards like this, or something terrible could happen:
These problems usually start when a compactor smashes the device, and the exposed terminals of the lithium battery short-circuit via something metallic. “These are high-energy batteries, no question about it,” George Kerchner, executive director of the Rechargeable Battery Association warns. “Because if they’re not properly handled, they can catch fire.”
Are Lithium Batteries Causing a Fire Epidemic in the Waste Industry?
Ron Fogelman from the Case Western Reserve University of Law says this is the case. He cites the National Fire Protection Association saying, “U.S. fire departments responded to an estimated average of 37,000 fires at industrial or manufacturing properties each year, with annual losses from these fires estimated at 18 civilian deaths, 279 civilian injuries, and $1 billion in direct property damage.”
Please do not trash your devices and add to this situation. Furthermore, please remember this. Your partner, your parents, your kids, and even you could be close to consequence like the video. They could suffer horrible burns that take months to heal, and leave them scarred. Even a battery toy can burn an apartment down. Show the world you care.
Related
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Preview Image: Lithium Used as Fuel in a Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test
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