Should retailers accept lithium-ion batteries back that are used, and no longer hold sufficient charge? A major New Zealand waste company is pushing for this change to business practice. They could have a case, given that they experienced 20 confirmed battery fires over the past 12 months. We don’t sit in judgement over this. We share the facts as we understand them.
Take This ‘Lithium Battery Fire’ For Example
The waste company suffered a landfill blaze at a disposal site the other day, that burned for four hours. Several crews responded from the local fire department, and the waste company is blaming batteries.
“”We have a big compactor that operates on the site that crushes down the waste,” the managing director explains. “It obviously went over something that caused a fire to break out in the waste pile,” managing direct Evan Maehl explains.
“The waste pile is not large, we only have a small footprint open each day,” Maehl continues. “But the fire then took hold because there was a lot of flammable materials that it could jump onto.”
However, there is no definitive evidence that a lithium-ion battery sparked the incident, a company spokesperson concedes. “It may have been a gas canister, but similar fires had been caused by lithium batteries.”
So, should retailers accept used lithium-ion batteries back on that basis? Let’s investigate further …
Should Retailers Be Part of the Solution?
Of the waste company’s 20 most recent confirmed battery fires, 10 were at landfills, 6 on garbage trucks, and four at transfer stations. There’s logic in the managing director’s comment:
“It would be great if retailers could jump on board. And take batteries back so they could be segregated in their own special waste stream so they can be looked after.” In fact, we know of a number of retailers that already do so.
Let’s all be mindful of the downstream impact of throwing used batteries in our garbage. Perhaps it might help if retailers promoted their recycling points more aggressively, and made it more a matter of pride to use them.
More Information
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