The Rise of Lithium Battery Fires

Lithium batteries are everywhere these days – from our smartphones and laptops to electric scooters and power tools. They’re compact, rechargeable, and powerful, making them incredibly handy. However, these same qualities can turn dangerous when these batteries end up in the wrong place: our rubbish bins.

You see, lithium batteries are prone to overheating, and if they’re damaged or improperly disposed of, they can catch fire. When these batteries get mixed in with household rubbish, they pose a serious risk to our rubbish collection and processing systems. The result? An alarming increase in rubbish truck fires.

Why Are Rubbish Trucks at Risk?

Rubbish trucks compact waste to make collection more efficient. Unfortunately, this compacting process can crush lithium batteries, causing them to short-circuit and ignite. It’s not just a nuisance; it’s a serious safety hazard for our waste management workers and a costly issue for councils across the country.

In the past year alone, several incidents of truck fires have been reported, leading to significant damage and disruption. These fires not only endanger lives but also result in the loss of expensive equipment and vehicles.

What Can We Do?

So, what’s the solution? The key lies in proper disposal. Here are a few tips to ensure we’re all doing our part to keep our rubbish trucks safe:

1. Recycle Batteries Properly:

Many local councils and electronics stores offer battery recycling programs. Make use of these facilities instead of tossing batteries in the bin.

For guidance on where to dispose of these items safely and in many cases, for free, visit www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/whereitgoes

2. Check for Drop-off Points:

: There are specific drop-off points for electronic waste, including batteries, across New Zealand. A quick search online or a call to your local council can point you in the right direction.

3. Store Used Batteries Safely:

If you need to store used batteries before recycling them, keep them in a cool, dry place, and tape the terminals to prevent any accidental short-circuiting.

FAQs:

1. Why are lithium batteries a fire hazard when thrown in the rubbish?

Lithium batteries can overheat, especially if they’re damaged or improperly disposed of. When these batteries are compacted in rubbish trucks, they can short-circuit and ignite, causing fires.

2. Can I throw small lithium batteries in the rubbish if they’re fully discharged?

No, even small or fully discharged lithium batteries should not be thrown in the rubbish. They still pose a fire risk and should be recycled properly.

3. Are there any safe ways to store used lithium batteries before recycling them?

Yes, if you need to store used lithium batteries before recycling them, keep them in a cool, dry place. Taping the terminals with non-conductive tape can help prevent any accidental short-circuiting.

4. What should I do with my old lithium batteries?

Old lithium batteries should be taken to designated recycling centres or drop-off points. Many local councils and electronics stores offer battery recycling programs specifically designed to handle these types of hazardous materials.

Vapes can be recycled through most shops that sell them or through www.vapecycle.co.nz

Bunnings also offers a free battery take-back service. For more information on its national battery recycling programme, visit https://trade.bunnings.co.nz/trade-services/battery-recycling

Selected Mitre 10 stores also offer a battery take-back service, including car batteries. https://www.mitre10.co.nz/sustainableliving/recycling-reset

Auckland Council family of three bins.

Some suburbs across the region will have a new rubbish, recycling and food scraps collection day, as Auckland Council continues to streamline its waste operations in its mission to achieve zero waste by 2040.

From 1 July 2024, changes to council collection days will see some Aucklanders putting their bins out on a different day of the week than they are used to.

For a number of residents, their recycling week will also change.

Auckland Council’s GM Waste Solutions Parul Sood says the changes affect around 113,000 properties across Auckland Central, Manukau, East Auckland, Papakura, and Franklin.

“As Auckland’s population and housing continue to grow, we must adapt our resources to meet residents’ needs while ensuring cost-effective services. This means we need to adjust some routes, days and times for our rubbish, recycling and food scraps collection services, to ensure we’re operating at maximum efficiency.

“Rubbish and food scraps collections will continue to be collected weekly, and recycling collections fortnightly,” Ms Sood says.

“We understand that changing bin collection days can be inconvenient and take some time to get used to. We thank Aucklanders for accepting this change as it helps make the best use of our resources and keeps services cost-effective.”

Affected residents are being notified by letter or mail drop.

Residents can also check the collection day and recycling weeks for their property at aucklandcouncil.nz/binday.

Residents should continue to put their rubbish, food scraps and recycling bins out on the roadside the night before or prior to 7am on their council collection day.

What does this mean?

Well, Auckland council is giving each household a new 23 litre bin for all their food scraps to go in which will then be collected each week.

Food items such as bread, egg shells, meat bones, fish bones, rice, pasta, coffee grounds, fruit skins, veggies and more can be thrown into your new food scrap bin. However, other rubbish items are not allowed.

See what you can and can’t throw in your food scrap bin here – Link

The system works by placing all your food scraps in the little kitchen caddy they provide, then once its full, you tie up the bag and place it into your 23-litre bin. Then you will need to place your scrap bin next to your council rubbish bin and they will come collect it for you. Leaving you with an empty bin to start again.

Why are they collecting our food scraps?

Auckland landfills are fill of about 100 thousand tonnes of old food scraps each year. These food scrap bins will hopefully decrease the food waste in landfills and instead go to providing energy and creating liquid fertilizer for the growth of more food for Auckland.

When do you receive your food scrap bin?

The bins are being introduced gradually to each Auckland area. Waitakere area is first to get the bins during March to April 2023 and North shore will be next, from April to June.

Then in order; Manukau, Auckland Central, Rodney and Franklin.

Click here to find your date.

If you have any questions about food scraps bin call 09 301 0101

Sources: Auckland Council, Stuff

Over the last few days Auckland has seen an astronomical amount of rain. Starting from the 27^th of January, which was the wettest day Auckland has ever seen in its history.

Floods destroyed many homes, stores and facilities, forcing people to evacuate. People were seen leaving their homes that were flooded up to waist high, and in some areas the water was even higher. Wet, unstable land led to landslides, homes leaked and roads overflowed with water leaving cars broken down and strained on the road.

Auckland airport terminal flooded and was closed until midday the next day and some grocery stores shut, such as New World in New Market due to flooding and impact on stock.

Now the hardest part starts – the clean-up; removing contaminated items, wet carpet and more.

Wet carpet

The dangers of leaving wet carpet down can be worse than just ripping up the carpet up and starting new. Wet damaged carpet can hold water extremely well and for a long period of time, this results in mould forming and than developing into black mould which can be deadly.

Therefore, ripping up the carpet and underlay is one of the first things you need to do if your house or a room has been affected by the flooding.

Ripping up the carpet

Carpet removal is easy with the right tool. All you need is a blade knife. To start the removal process, lift one corner of the carpet up and pull back as hard as you can, as you pull take your blade knife and cut the carpet into wide strips. This will make the carpet easy to move, as wet carpet can be heavy. Work your way around the room, watching out for the little nails on the edges of the carpet.

Once the carpet is cut and in strips and rolled up, move the carpet into one pile outside, making sure the pile is on your property.

Disposing of the wet carpet

If you removed a whole house load of carpet, a skip bin is the best way to remove the waste. The perk of a skip bin is that you can load as you remove the carpet.

If you don’t have space on your property for a skip or flexi bin, we can come collect your carpet for you. We provide truck rubbish removal service around the Auckland region. Place your carpet in a pile, give us a ring for an estimate quote and we will come remove and dispose of your carpet for you.

Wet furniture/items

If your furniture and items also got wet, there is a high chance that they are contaminated with the mud and dirt from the water. This can cause items to become moldy and dangerous to your health. We recommend removing and disposing of all furniture items that were badly affected in the flood. Items such as wooden drawers, dressers, bed bases and mattresses soak up a lot of water and are almost impossible to restore, therefore they need to be disposed of.

Disposing furniture can be done by taking the items to the tip in a trailer, hiring a skip bin or calling us to remove your items for you.

Wet floorboards

Wet floorboards need the water swiped off it immediately, as water soaks into the pours of the wood.  Therefore, sweeping the water outside and placing dry towels down to soak up the water is the first step. If the flood waters were too high and the floor boards are destroyed, you will have to get a professional in to help you rip up your floor boards and replace them.

If your floor boards only got a little wet, dry them with towels, place multiple fans pointing on the floor and open windows for air to circulate. Open curtains and blinds so the sun can also dry the floorboards.

Once the floorboards are damp or dry, disinfect the area.

Once disinfecting is completed, its time to dry the area again. This means setting up fans to blow on wet areas and ensuring air/wind is flowing through the house from open windows and doors.

At night, when you need to close up the house, use dehumidifiers and fans to continue the drying process while you sleep.

If you need information on flood support go to www.civildefence.govt.nz

The items you should not put into your recycling bin:

Plastic bags

Chip and cookie packets / Plastic Straws

Batteries

Gas bottles

Single use paper cups

Face masks and gloves

All fabrics/ Towels/ Clothes/ Curtains

Stuffed toys

Bricks

Glassware

Electrical items (Hose and wires)

Medical waste

Tyre

Paint cans

Mirror / light bulbs / window glass

Polystyrene

Food waste

Garden waste

These items either clog the machine, cause fires in the pick up trucks or can not be recylced.

What CAN go into your recycling bin:

(Please rinse items before you place them in your recycling bin)

Pizza boxes (without food inside)

Hard plastic food trays

Tins

Liquid paper board cartons

Plastic takeaway containers

Plastic cookie trays

Broken glass bottles

Glass bottles / glass jars

Plastic bottles/cartons

Cardboard

Paper / newspaper / magazines / Glossy advertising material

Egg cartons

Where can I take my soft plastics?

Some stores around Auckland have special soft plastic recycling bins that anyone can place their soft plastics into.

If you can’t find a soft recycling station near your home then please place them into your rubbish bin.

Where can I recycle my gas bottle and batteries?

Gas bottles can be taken to your local transfer station or community recycling centre

Wondering how to get ride of the other items that can’t go into your recycle bin?

Go to Auckland Council website or go here – HOW TO GET RID OF UNWANTED ITEMS

Over the past few weeks, a few locals have individually taken it upon themselves to go for walks and pick up the rubbish from the car parks and roads.

Some locals collect at least one massive bag of rubbish or more in ten minutes of picking up rubbish.

Locals have had enough as the rubbish is continual and hurting their community.

Now, Salazar and Filip, two of the concerned locals have discussed their concern with the Upper Harbour Local Board.

The Upper Harbour Local Board has allocated $58,000 to the cause, to ensure council members are checking up and reminding the builders to dispose of their rubbish correctly.

Likewise, the community has organized clean-up days that anyone can join to help make their community clean again.

It’s great to see our local communities coming together to create cleaner suburbs in Auckland.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

On September 19^th one person in a Christchurch isolation facility tested positive for Covid -19 and spend 14 days in isolation.

After the 14 days and testing negative twice, the person flew from Christchurch to Auckland on September the 11^th and infected one other person on the flight.

So how did this happen?

Through contact tracing, the ministry of health believes that the first person that tested negative twice before leaving isolation contracted the sickness at the end of their stay through touching a rubbish bin in the quarantine facility.

Dr Caroline McElnay, the director of public health states “While we cannot be certain, our hypothesis is that the virus may have been transmitted to a person … via the surface of a rubbish bin, which was used by another returnee who was likely infectious at the facility.”

The cc footage at the isolation facility has shown that the rubbish bin was the common source of contact between the two people before one of them left isolation.

An intense investigation found that no other person has been infected on the flight or by the two flight cases in the community.

While this case is unique and happened in isolation, reminders of hand hygiene is being emphasised more and more.

So how does this affect you?

While you may think no one touches your private rubbish bin when you place it on the curb, this may not be the case. Many people can walk pass and touch your rubbish bin without your knowledge.

Therefore, it is important to sanitize your inside and outside bins with disinfectant wipes or spray. On top of this, washing your hands after you touch your rubbish bin is important to prevent the spread of germs.

Likewise, avoid touching the surface of public waste bins when throwing away your rubbish when out and about.

Remember if everyone washes their hands, the spread of covis-19 will decrease significantly.

Source one

Source two

There is no doubt that Covid -19 slowed down and effected waste organizations and businesses, therefore, Eugenie Sage says the focus for this year’s funding from the waste minimisation fund is now falling on “upgrading waste systems so they are resilient for the future” and working with “10 to 20 projects of strategic importance to waste minimisation as New Zealand responds to Covid-19.”

The result of the proposal is said to bring about more jobs and reduce the large amount of waste going into landfills.

However, the waste minimisation fund retrieves its money from levy charges from landfills, therefore, if the government wants to increase the waste minimisation fund to reduce waste, reuse and recycle more efficiently, the landfill charges will increase for average kiwis.

This means residential rubbish bags and bin costs could increase by 33 cents per bag/bin, going from $2.50 a bag to $2.83 a bag.

Not only that, but the landfill charge would increase from $10 a tonne to $60 a tonne, which means simply taking your rubbish to the tip gets more and more expensive, resulting in the government waste minimisation fund making up to $250 million extra a year up from the already $220 million it already receives.

The definition of the waste minimisation fund is said to provide “funding for projects that promote or achieve waste minimisation” and “helps increase resource efficiency, reuse, recovery and recycling, and decrease waste to landfill.”

The fund money will be spilt, half of the money will go to the local councils to spend “in accordance with their waste management and minimisation plans” while the other half of the money will be managed by the ministry for the environment.

“The purpose of the act is to encourage waste minimisation and a decrease in waste disposal.” – Eugenie Sage.

The new proposal isn’t supported by everyone, the Taxpayers’ Union have said the new proposal is a “revenue grab that will hammer poorer taxpayers.”

While Louis Houlbrook also disapproved saying that it will have a harsh financial impact on bigger households in poorer areas.

However, unless the fund supports new recycling indicatives and finds a new way to recycle ALL recyclable materials locally, not internationally, then the higher taxes for the landfill won’t help reduce waste in the landfill or reduce waste period.

Resources:

Stuff

One News

Green

MFE