Electronic scrap battery fires focus of report

Several European recycling trade organizations have banded together to issue a survey on lithium-ion battery fires and to produce a 107-page report based on the more than 100 responses received to the survey.

The report focuses on electronics recycling, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) as it is known in Europe. Titled ““Characterization of fires caused by batteries in WEEE,” the document includes “a set of recommendations and good practices for all stages of the (W)EEE value chain, aimed at addressing fire incidents caused by WEEE batteries,” according to the report’s authors.

The report’s executive summary states in part, “The current situation is affecting the industry managing WEEE containing batteries and single batteries. Fires caused by WEEE containing batteries can be a very serious problem for waste management facilities, costing millions of euros each year.”

The report’s authors also conclude, “There is no magic formula that will reduce to zero the risk of fires caused by WEEE containing batteries.”

Alarmingly, among the 81 respondents to one survey question, 62 percent of them reported one or more “thermal incidents” associated with batteries in 2018 alone. Adds the report, “The steady increase of fires caused by WEEE containing batteries is affecting the policies of insurance companies, and the waste industry has raised concerns about the difficulty to obtain proper insurance coverage.”

The six organizations that cooperated on the report are WEEE Forum, EuRIC, EUCOBAT and MWE, all based in or near Brussels; EERA, based in Arnhem, the Netherlands; and WEEELABEX, based in Prague.

The full 107-page report can be found on this web page.