Lithium-ion batteries pose a fire risk to recycling facilities. | Mehaniq / Shutterstock
The Recycling Partnership is providing communities with resources communicating proper battery recycling, hoping to help reduce fires in trucks and at recycling facilities.
The nonprofit group released customizable communications covering the recycling of batteries and scrap electronics. They include social media graphics, an educational video, mail and print templates, and stickers and signs.
The Recycling Partnership also published a consumer-focused blog post educating the public about the risk of tossing batteries in recycling and garbage bins.
Lithium-ion batteries, which are used in a growing array of devices, have been described as an “existential threat” to recycling operators.
During collection and sorting at recycling facilities, materials frequently get crushed, punctured, ripped and dropped. With lithium-ion batteries, rupturing of any kind can cause damage to the safety separator between the cathode and anode. This allows a discharge, which generates heat and can cause a fire or explosion.
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