Lithium battery fires at UK recycling centres now cost £1bn a year, figures show
Wrongly discarded lithium batteries, including those from vapes, are causing over 10 fires a week at UK recycling centres, industry figures show, with waste bosses calling the situation a crisis. The industry is urging a £5 deposit scheme for vape sales.
New figures from the UK waste management industry show that lithium-ion batteries discarded in household rubbish are triggering a growing wave of dangerous fires at recycling facilities. The Environment Services Association (ESA), which represents waste companies, said its members recorded 1,518 fires in the year to March 2026, with at least 541 directly linked to lithium batteries and a further 216 battery fires occurring in bin lorries.
The ESA believes the true scale is even larger, since the cause of most fires cannot be confirmed. It estimates the annual cost of these fires has risen from £150m in 2021 to £1bn today.
Incidents across the country
Recent fires have struck sites in Deptford, Ilford, Caerwent, Widnes, Glasgow, Costessey and Dereham. The Ilford blaze required 25 firefighters to bring under control. London Fire Brigade said such incidents are resource-intensive and can seriously affect surrounding communities.
Dr Francesco Restuccia, a fire expert at King's College London, explained that when batteries are crushed during processing, punctured separators can trigger internal short circuits that raise temperatures to ignition point. In a test commissioned by the ESA, a punctured vape battery reached temperatures above 750C and was hot enough to set paper alight.
Waste firm Biffa said it alone had collected 500,000 vapes from its sites this summer. The ESA is calling on the government to introduce a mandatory £5 deposit on vape sales, giving consumers an incentive to return used devices to retailers for safe recycling rather than throwing them out with general waste.
