Today, Biffa calls on the UK Government to introduce kerbside collection for disposal vapes following a surge in fires caused in waste facilities and trucks by battery and WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) items.
Biffa
Across the UK waste industry, there are 4 to 5 five fires every day in refuse collection vehicles. Fires in waste vehicles and at waste sites related to incorrectly discarded batteries and electrical devices are becoming much more common. They have increased 70% year-on-year and cost the industry more than £1bn annually.
Examples of the growing dangers are evident across Biffa’s sites around the UK. In Wakefield, for example, almost 85 tonnes of batteries and electrical items were incorrectly placed in recycling bins during 2024/25. This led to 46 separate fires at the recycling facility in South Kirkby, and five bin lorry fires.
A nationwide ban selling disposable vapes came into force in the UK on 1 June. Despite this, Biffa has seen a 7% increase in incorrect disposals of vapes across its material recovery sites UK-wide in June and July. In Teesside, there was a 24% surge in disposable vapes being incorrectly disposed of, with 232,500 of the now-outlawed vapes being disposed of in recycling bins rather than proper disposal points.
Maxine Mayhew, Biffa’s chief operating officer, commented: “The UK is facing a growing epidemic of battery-related fires in both bin lorries and at waste management facilities which threatens lives, communities, vital infrastructure, and the environment. It’s costing the waste industry £1 billion a year."
She continues, "Whether discarded in a recycling bin, black bin bags at home, or litter bins out and about, batteries wreak havoc when they are not disposed of at a specialist takeback point, or at a supermarket or any other designated location. Vapes, in particular, have risen in popularity in recent years, but disposal behaviour hasn’t caught up with the trend, with many of them being discarded in any nearby bin or even littered on the ground. This is too often because of a lack of understanding of the fire hazard lithium batteries hidden in these items pose even when they appear to have run out of charge."
Lithium-ion batteries, those found in many small electrical items such as disposable vapes, but also smartphones, e-bikes, and digital cameras, can easily overheat and ignite. This happens when the items are exposed to heat, damaged or crushed (common processes when entering the back of a waste collection vehicle or going through a waste management facility). When a fire starts in a vehicle carrying 10 tonnes of waste, or in a facility storing far greater quantity of waste, it can cause significant damage and risks people’s life or injury. Both to those nearby or working.
There are vape and battery recycling points in some stores, which are then emptied and collected for safe disposal. These have had some success but broadly speaking individuals are not aware that they shouldn’t dispose of lithium batteries and items like vapes that contain lithium batteries in general waste. Vapes and lithium batteries must be disposed of at Household Waste Recycling Centres (a designated collection facility like the ones Biffa provides), or in a vape recycling bin (often found at your local supermarket store) or taken back to the shop where they were brought. In some areas, the Local Authority will also offer a battery collection service, but this is not UK wide.
She concludes, "Last week the WEEE regulations were updated to provide a specific category for Vapes – they will no longer be classified as ‘toys’. In addition, online marketplaces selling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) will now have to also fund the collection and treatment of these items in the same way as other retailers. We also believe kerbside collection of small electrical equipment including vapes, would go a long way to manage electrical waste safely and significantly reduce fires impacting the industry, our employees, communities and individuals.”