Building Safer Recycling Operations: Managing Lithium-Ion Battery Risks Across the Waste Stream

Lithium-ion batteries have become an increasingly serious operational concern across the waste and recycling industry. Found in smartphones, power tools, laptops, e-bikes, toys and countless rechargeable products, these batteries can enter ordinary trash and recycling streams even though conventional collection and processing systems are not designed to handle them.

For professionals working directly in waste collection, the risk starts well before materials arrive at a recycling facility. Dusty Ferrell, General Manager & Dispatcher at Ted’s Trash Service, sees waste management from the operational side, where crews, collection vehicles and dispatch teams must deal with whatever customers place at the curb. Lithium-ion batteries create a particularly difficult hazard because they may be concealed inside otherwise ordinary-looking household products.

A battery can appear harmless when discarded but become dangerous after being crushed, punctured or otherwise damaged. Inside a collection vehicle, transfer station or material recovery facility (MRF), that damage can lead to overheating, thermal runaway and fire—often around large quantities of combustible material.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified 245 fires caused or likely caused by lithium metal or lithium-ion batteries at 64 waste-management facilities between 2013 and 2020. Incidents occurred at MRFs, collection vehicles, landfills, transfer stations and other waste-management operations.

Reducing these risks requires treating battery safety as a waste-stream-wide responsibility rather than a problem confined to recycling facilities.

Collection Crews Are the First Line of Defense

Ferrell’s experience at Ted’s Trash Service highlights one of the industry's fundamental challenges: waste haulers have limited control over what customers place inside their containers.

By the time a battery reaches a collection vehicle, identifying it may already be difficult. A rechargeable cell might be hidden inside a discarded phone, power tool, toy, small appliance or other electronic device. When the material enters a compactor truck, pressure can crush or puncture the battery.

That makes prevention at the customer level especially important. Clear instructions about prohibited materials, battery drop-off options and electronics recycling programs can prevent hazardous items from entering collection vehicles in the first place.

Drivers and crews should also understand procedures for suspected battery incidents. Warning signs such as unusual heat, smoke, popping sounds or odors require a clear response protocol rather than improvised decision-making.

Keep Lithium-Ion Batteries Out of Conventional Bins

One of the most effective interventions occurs before collection.

The EPA advises consumers not to place lithium-ion batteries or devices containing them in household garbage or conventional curbside recycling bins. Instead, batteries should be directed toward appropriate electronics recyclers, battery collection programs or household hazardous waste facilities.

This message needs to be straightforward because consumers can easily misunderstand the term "recyclable." A lithium-ion battery may be recyclable, but that does not mean it belongs in a household recycling cart.

Waste companies can reinforce the distinction through websites, customer emails, collection calendars, social media and printed materials. Consistency matters: residents should receive the same instructions wherever they encounter information about battery disposal.

Manage Battery Risk Across the Entire Waste Stream

The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has also emphasized the growing challenges lithium-ion batteries create for waste and recycling operations. Its work on battery safety addresses collection vehicles, transfer stations, MRFs, landfills and other parts of the solid waste system.

That broader perspective is important because there is no single point at which battery risk begins or ends.

Safer operations require controls at several stages:

• Collection: Educate customers and reduce batteries entering residential and commercial containers.

• Transportation: Train drivers to recognize warning signs and respond to suspected fires.

• Transfer: Identify battery-powered devices when materials can safely be inspected.

• Processing: Establish procedures for removing suspicious batteries from sorting lines.

• Storage: Isolate recovered batteries from combustible materials and manage them appropriately.

• Emergency response: Coordinate evacuation, equipment shutdown and emergency communication procedures.

Each intervention provides another opportunity to stop an improperly discarded battery from progressing toward a more serious incident.

Train MRF Workers to Recognize Hidden Battery Hazards

Even effective consumer education will not prevent every battery from reaching a recycling facility.

Workers therefore need to recognize more than loose AA-style rechargeable cells. Lithium-ion batteries can be embedded in phones, tablets, electronic cigarettes, headphones, cameras, power tools, toys, personal electronics and numerous other products.

SWANA, the National Waste & Recycling Association and ReMA have developed industry guidance addressing lithium battery management at MRFs. Their work underscores the potential for incorrectly discarded batteries to cause fires, worker injuries and substantial facility damage.

Recognition must also be connected to action. Employees should know what to do when they identify a suspected battery, where the item should be moved, who needs to be notified and how damaged batteries should be isolated.

Strengthen Fire Detection and Emergency Response

Prevention should remain the priority, but waste facilities must operate under the assumption that some batteries will escape detection.

Lithium-ion battery incidents can escalate quickly once a cell has been significantly damaged. Facilities should therefore evaluate detection systems, employee communication, evacuation procedures, equipment shutdown protocols and coordination with local emergency responders.

Facility-specific planning is important.

Conveyor layouts, processing equipment, material stockpiles, vehicle traffic and combustible material storage can influence how quickly a fire develops and how safely employees can respond.

Regular drills can help determine whether procedures that appear effective on paper remain practical during an actual emergency.

Learn From Battery Incidents and Near Misses

Not every damaged battery results in a major fire. Near misses can still provide valuable information.

Waste operators can document where batteries are discovered, what products contain them, whether the batteries show signs of damage and what intervention prevented the situation from escalating.

Over time, these records can expose patterns.

For example, recurring incidents involving certain collection routes, products or material categories may indicate where additional customer education is needed. Repeated discoveries at particular processing stages might suggest opportunities for improved detection or employee training.

Incident reporting therefore becomes more than a compliance exercise. It can function as operational intelligence that helps facilities continually improve their battery-management strategy.

Make Customer Education a Safety Measure

Waste operators can invest in detection equipment, training and emergency planning, but the safest battery is still one that never enters the conventional waste stream.

This makes consumer education directly relevant to worker safety.

Customers should know that rechargeable batteries and battery-powered electronics generally require separate collection channels. Waste companies can also make appropriate disposal options easier to find rather than simply telling residents what they cannot place in their bins.

For a hauler such as Ted’s Trash Service, better disposal behavior upstream can reduce risk downstream. Every battery correctly diverted before collection eliminates a potential ignition source inside a truck, transfer facility or processing operation.

Build Multiple Layers of Protection

Lithium-ion battery safety cannot depend on a single employee, technology or stage of the recycling process.

Manufacturers, consumers, municipalities, waste haulers, MRF operators and specialized recyclers all influence what ultimately happens to batteries at the end of their useful lives.

The practical goal for waste companies is therefore to create multiple layers of protection.

Customer education helps keep batteries out of bins. Collection procedures protect drivers and equipment. Worker training improves detection. Isolation procedures help contain discovered batteries. Fire detection and emergency planning provide another safeguard when prevention fails.

The frontline perspective of professionals such as Dusty Ferrell of Ted’s Trash Service, combined with industry guidance from authorities such as SWANA, reinforces an important point: lithium-ion battery safety begins long before a battery reaches a recycling facility.

As battery-powered products become increasingly common, safer waste operations will depend on identifying risks earlier, communicating disposal requirements more clearly and ensuring that every stage of the waste stream is prepared to prevent a misplaced battery from becoming a serious fire.