BANGOR, Maine — Many people are unaware that the common household items that they throw away can cause trash fires.
These include technological devices like cell phones and laptops due to the lithium-ion batteries within them, which can ignite when damaged or improperly disposed of in regular trash.
"They get compressed with tons of other material and that pressure combined with the heat can often result in fires that happen in the bodies of our trucks or at the receiving facilities," Jim Dunning, the market area manager for Casella Waste Systems, said.
According to the National Waste and Recycling Association, every year there are about 5,000 fires linked to lithium-ion batteries.
Trash fires can be prevented if items with those batteries are identified before they go into the waste streams.
"It's really important to elevate the awareness of the public about the opportunity to return these batteries," Jeff Weld, vice president of Casella Waste Systems, said.
Weld said with dozens of locations across the northeast, lithium-ion battery fires are becoming more common.
"It really comes down to the danger of the people that are handling that material. They have a job to do, they are trained to do it safely [and] effectively for our customers to keep our community safe," Weld added.
As technology advances, more lithium-ion batteries are being used, increasing the concern about safely disposing of them.
"We need to be very aware on how we're handling that waste stream as it continues to grow," Dunning said.
You can visit call2recycle.org to find out where to properly drop off and dispose of items containing lithium-ion batteries near you.