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As the festive season approaches, local waste authorities are urging the public to recycle their broken Christmas lights, batteries, and other FastTech presents responsibly to help reduce the risk of fires. Across the Liverpool City Region, officials are collaborating with Recycle Your Electricals to promote the ‘Stop Battery Fires’ campaign. This initiative aims to raise awareness about proper recycling practices for batteries and electrical gifts to combat the recent rise in fire incidents within the waste management system.
The UK has experienced a notable increase in battery-related fires, recording more than 1,200 incidents during 2023/24, which represents a 71% jump compared to 2022. These fires frequently occur inside bin lorries, waste transfer stations, and Recycling Centres, caused by batteries and electrical items being discarded incorrectly. Specifically, the MRWA/SUEZ Rail Transfer Loading Station in Kirkby, Knowsley, has reported 155 fires since January 2024, with 61 fires this year and 94 so far in 2025.
Proper recycling of electrical items not only prevents dangerous fires but also allows valuable materials such as copper, lithium, gold, and nickel to be recovered and reused. These recycled resources contribute to the manufacturing of new products including mobile phones, laptops, smartwatches, clean energy technologies, and even medical equipment. To make recycling easier, residents can use Recycle Your Electricals’ Postcode Locator by entering their postcode to find the nearest facilities for repair, donation, or recycling. Additional local advice is available through recycleright.org.uk for those living in the Liverpool City Region.
Lesley Worswick, Chief Executive of Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, highlighted the risks posed by batteries in incorrect disposal methods, stating: “Many ‘FastTech’ or light-up electrical items are powered by batteries which, if end up in the wrong bin, get crushed and damaged in bin lorries, waste transfer stations and Recycling Centres, sparking dangerous fires that put firefighters and waste workers at serious risk. All of the region’s Household Waste Recycling Centres accept batteries, as do the majority of supermarkets, so we’d encourage people to dispose of them responsibly.” Similarly, Steve Patterson, Processing Managing Director at SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, emphasized the danger, saying: “A fire in one of our waste facilities is one of the things that we dread the most. A battery can go from nothing to a full-blown blaze in seconds, putting not just the facility but our teams at risk. With the rise in FastTech, and particularly at this time of year, it’s really important that the message to not put batteries or electrical items in waste or recycling bins becomes more widespread.”
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