With 28 reported fires across Veolia’s Southwark services over the past year, Veolia in partnership with Southwark Council are asking residents to recycle their batteries and electrical items correctly in order to avoid more fires and to keep frontline operatives and the public safe.

With a rise in consumer purchases of electronic goods such as electric scooters, mobiles and laptops, and in light of research released on 19 July by Material Focus which found that up to 45% of residents are unaware of the fire risk of these items, Veolia, Southwark Council
‘s recycling and waste partner, wants to remind residents to bring electrical items to their local Reuse and Recycling Centre, or use the Recycle Now Recycling Locator to find the nearest recycling point for batteries and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment.

Research by the Environmental Services Association in 2021 highlighted that Lithium-ion batteries are responsible for around 48% (over 200) of all waste fires occurring in the UK and this figure is increasing year on year, putting people at risk.

Southwark Council and Veolia, are supporting the Material Focus ‘Stop Battery Fires’ campaign, to help residents understand the dangers and raise awareness of how to recycle right to protect our frontline operatives.

Once waste is tipped into the collection trucks it gets crushed inside the vehicle and it is during this crushing that batteries can burst and electrical items can spark. In a truck filled with waste, this can very quickly turn into a fire. With a quarter of residents putting batteries and electrical items in their bins at home, in the past 12 months alone, Veolia has tackled eight recycling and rubbish collection truck fires and twenty fires within the Recycling Facility where the recycling and rubbish is tipped.

Stephen Kendzoria, Veolia Operative, who has witnessed some of the most recent vehicle fires said: “There have been a few times with different crews where the inside of a truck has started smoking whilst the trucks are in motion. Unfortunately, we can’t see inside the back of the truck when we are in the cab, wing mirrors only let you see so much. Instances like this put us at risk. Things like this don’t need to happen if people recycled batteries and electricals in the right way.”

Matthew Crane, Regional Manager for Southwark at Veolia said:
“We are delighted that residents are stepping up their recycling so we can all make a big difference to protect our planet together, but keeping our operatives and the public safe is at the core of everything we do in Southwark. That’s why we’re asking residents to make sure they’re recycling right by bringing their batteries and electrical items to the Recycling Centre or their local drop-off point and not putting them in their bins at home to reduce the risk of fires and to help us continue to run our services safely and smoothly.”

All batteries and electrical items can be brought to the Reuse and Recycling Centre, 43 Devon St, SE15 1AL southwark.gov.uk/bins-and-recycling/recycling/recycling-centres/reuse-and-recycling-centre or alternatively residents can book a bulky waste collection for electricals by visiting southwark.gov.uk/bulkywaste.
To recycle small batteries, residents can check their local collection point by visiting: recyclenow.com/recycle-an-item/batteries#locator.
Electrical items can also be taken back to the supplier/retailer: gov.uk/electricalwaste-producer-supplier-responsibilities.