> Veolia and Shropshire Council launch campaign following fires and explosions caused by dangerous materials being incorrectly placed in household bins across the county
The campaign aims to raise awareness of the danger real people face from vehicle and facility fires. Residents should not put vapes, electrical items, batteries, or gas canisters in the bin as they are extremely flammable when crushed. Veolia carries out around 9.9 million collections a year in Shropshire.
Veolia, the UK’s leading resource management company, has launched a campaign in Shropshire to combat a rise in fires, that has reached on average, one preventable fire every day across the UK, including in Shropshire where Veolia delivers essential recycling, waste collection and treatment services.
The campaign aims to educate the general public on the dangers of certain waste items and how they put the people who handle waste in danger as well as cause damage to vital recycling infrastructure.
The fires occur across the country in Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCVs) in residential areas and in waste management facilities, due to residents putting dangerous items in their recycling or rubbish bins and on-street litter bins. This puts both Veolia staff and the general public in direct danger.
Shropshire has experienced several significant incidents with dangerous waste just in the last few months, including a fire caused by a battery at Battlefield Household Recycling Centre (HRC) and an explosion caused by a fire extinguisher that had been placed in a waste bin in Shifnal.
The campaign for Shropshire will be seen across social media and on collection vehicles. The digital campaign contains real footage of the fires and explosions caused and focuses on the danger of four items that are commonly misplaced in household bins and how they can impact the people who collect, sort, and process waste.
- Used vapes should be taken back to retailers or to one of the five HRCs across the county, never placed in household recycling or rubbish bins or in on-street litter bins. For information on HRCs, visit next.shropshire.gov.uk/recycling-and-rubbish/household-recycling-centres/
- Electrical items - items with batteries, plugs, cables, or hidden batteries such as those found in children’s toys and electrical toothbrushes - can be recycled at the HRCs.
- Batteries can be easily recycled via the kerbside recycling service. Residents should place batteries in a clear container on top of their purple top bin on their collection day.
- Gas bottles and nitrous oxide (Nox) canisters need to be handled safely during disposal. Residents needing to dispose of gas bottles or canisters can take them to their local HRC.
Vapes, electrical items, batteries, and gas canisters become extremely flammable when they are crushed. This puts both collection crews and the staff at recycling and waste sorting and processing facilities at risk of burns, chemical exposure and smoke inhalation - injuries that can be life-changing. It also causes damage to vital recycling infrastructure.
Residents can visit veolia.co.uk/dangerous-waste to watch real footage of what happens when dangerous items enter the waste stream and learn more about how to safely dispose of these materials.
Jeff Sears, Regional Director, Treatment West at Veolia, said: “In Shropshire, we pride ourselves on carrying out essential services whilst putting safety first in the workplace, and we do not accept our people or the communities we serve being put in danger. This campaign aims to educate residents on how to ensure their waste is safe, and we ask everyone to make these simple changes that will greatly decrease the chance of fires in our collection vehicles and local sorting facilities. This will have a huge impact on keeping the vital industry we work in safe and ensure that the people that handle waste are kept out of harm’s way whilst protecting the valuable materials residents work hard to separate for recycling.”
David Vasmer, Cabinet Member for Highways and Environment, Shropshire Council, said: “The dangers of putting batteries, gas canisters, vapes and electrical items out with the general waste or recycling are very real and is something that puts collection crews at risk of injury.
“It’s great that our residents want to recycle but we ask them to take extra care by making sure they do not put such items out for collection.”