Putting dangerous items in bins puts real people in danger.
You might not think these items are dangerous as they’re commonly found in your home and place of work.
Vapes, electrical items, batteries, and gas (Nox) canisters can all cause fires and explosions if they are placed in your general waste bin or the wrong recycling bins, putting real people in danger and impacting vital recycling and waste infrastructure.
You can make a positive impact by recycling them correctly. Learn more about how to safely dispose of an item for your household or business.
Vapes:
When you put vapes in your general waste or recycling bins, you’re putting real people in danger.
When vapes are crushed, the lithium-ion batteries inside them become extremely flammable. This causes problems in collection vehicles as recycling or waste is crushed in the back of the vehicle to make space. If a fire breaks out in the back of the vehicle, both the collection crew and the general public are put in danger until the fire is extinguished. It will also slow down the collection service and cause traffic on roads.
You might not realise that vapes also pose a fire risk at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs), the place recycling is taken to be sorted after it’s collected from your household or business.
At MRFs, recycling is sorted before being crushed into bales that are taken to other facilities to be turned into new materials or products. If a vape is mixed in with other recycling it could cause a fire.
Putting the people working in the MRF in direct danger and renders the other recyclable material in the bale non-recyclable.
How to dispose of dangerous waste safely for households and businesses
For households
Get rid of used vapes by taking them back to where you bought them
For businesses
Recycle your used vapes with our vape disposal solution
Learn more about Veolia’s vape recycling initiative: veolia.co.uk/services/vape-recycling or email your enquiry to [email protected]
Electrical Items:
When you put electrical items into your general waste or recycling bins you could be responsible for fires or explosions that put the people who manage your waste in direct danger.
Electronic items or any item with a battery, plug, or cable can be recycled but they must be handled safely or they can cause fires and explosions that put real people in danger. This is because they contain hidden batteries, including lithium-ion batteries that are extremely flammable when crushed or damaged.
Just like vapes, electrical items can cause fires in the back of collection vehicles or at recycling facilities during the sorting process, putting real people in danger of burns, chemical exposure, and smoke inhalation injuries that can be life-changing.
Did you know that lithium-ion battery fires create their own oxygen which means they can reignite and even cause explosions? This means fires can spread further and burn for longer, putting more people in danger.
How to dispose of dangerous waste safely for households and businesses
For households
Visit recyclenow.com/recycling-locator to learn more and find a dedicated recycling point near you
For businesses
Contact us for electrical item disposal [email protected]
Batteries:
Batteries are a major cause of fires in recycling and waste facilities, impacting infrastructure and putting real people in danger.
Last year there were over 1,200 preventable battery fires in the waste industry across the UK. Batteries become flammable when crushed and so they become a hazard as soon as they’re collected from your household or business if you put them in your general waste or recycling bins. This includes small batteries, from AAs to AAAs, to the hidden batteries you might find in watches, laptops, remote controls, toothbrushes and children’s toys.
Fires in collection vehicles and recycling and waste facilities put real people at risk and can spread rapidly, putting operatives, firefighters, and the general public at the risk of burns, chemical exposure, and smoke inhalation.
Batteries contain valuable materials that can be extracted and used again when they’re recycled properly, making it even more important that they’re disposed of responsibly.
How to dispose of dangerous waste safely for households and businesses
For households
Find your nearest battery recycling point at recyclenow.com/recycling-locator
For businesses
Segregate your batteries into different bins with Veolia’s battery recycling solutions. Contact our experts for safe battery recycling [email protected]
Gas Bottles:
Throwing gas bottles like Nox canisters into your general waste or recycling bins can cause explosions.
Gas bottles can cause explosions when they’re crushed, even if they’re empty. If this happens in the back of a collection vehicle or at a recycling sorting facility, or at an energy recovery facility handling waste, it can cause serious injury to the people working there who deliver an essential service to the community.
Did you know that even though Nitrous Oxide can’t burn as a fuel, it can act as an oxidiser? This means that it can make fires burn hotter, faster and more intensely which puts people at an increased risk of injury and can cause damage to recycling infrastructure.
If you need to dispose of gas bottles, check your local council’s website to see if they are accepted at your local Household Reuse and Recycling Centre.
How to dispose of dangerous waste safely for households and businesses
For households
Check your local council’s website to see if they are accepted at your local household Reuse and Recycling Centre
For businesses
Contact the hazardous waste team for gas canister disposal [email protected]
Digital Items
Digital items such as laptops, PCs and mobile phones are classed as data bearing items. Incorrect disposal of these items can lead to fires or explosions, which puts real people in danger. This is due to hidden batteries inside the item becoming flammable when crushed. Veolia’s Vault service allows us to collect these items where the confidential data on them is wiped, ready to be re-purposed, harvested for parts, or securely destroyed. Alternatively, we can safely remove the batteries and completely destroy the item to ensure the item is unusable and the data is protected.
How to dispose of dangerous waste safely for households and businesses
For households
Visit recyclenow.com/recycling-locator to learn more and find a dedicated recycling point near you
For businesses
Contact our vault team [email protected]
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