I've just been told of a customer (Ex-FSO) who mentioned that his friends have been called out to five different fires recently caused by batteries placed in a collection box for recycling. I've never heard of this happening before. Anyone else?

Shipping lithium batteries via road, sea or air there are a number of controls to stop short circuits. Nothing for recycling. http://www.westyorksfire...1d417338b47062316d7c.pdf Andy

Excellent story, a lively scene I expect! Yes, I have also heard of incidents involving storage of batteries...

There's a lot of power in batteries, even ones which are 'spent' have simply dropped from their required voltage level, i.e. the 1.5 has now dropped to 1.2 etc. Lets not forget that the typical rechargeable is actually 1.2v, not 1.5v, it's just that they can maintain that 1.2 for a considerable time, whereas a conventional battery drops terminal voltage rapidly once it reaches it's threshold. I have a great respect for batteries; in my time in Aviation, I've seen people get some small but nasty burns when they accidentally shorted out a battery circuit. If you want to start a fire, just get some wire wool and a PP3 9v battery together. I personally would advocate only 1.5v batteries in recycling boxes (AAA, AA, C, D) and then only small quantities, i.e. about a 4ltr plastic tub. However, there are some schools of thought that if you do wish to recycle Lithium-ion batteries, then they should be mixed with conventional batteries, simply to stop too many powerful batteries being in one container together.