(Cass County) Lithium battery fires are becoming a growing concern in the solid waste collection industry.
Chris Jahnke, Director of the Cass County Landfill, says some of the biggest problems involve vape pens and cell phones, which can contain different types of batteries.
Jahnke says even small batteries can create a fire hazard. He says that includes hearing aid batteries, watch batteries, car key fob batteries, garage remote batteries, and other items that contain lithium.
Jahnke says Iowa law requires battery manufacturers to help fund battery collection. The Cass County Landfill works with a company called “The Battery Network” to help with battery collection. Jahnke says that, through this network, they can accept all of these batteries, box them, and send them back to this company free of charge. However, there is an issue with the e-scooter and e-bike batteries that are too large to fit in these boxes.
Jahnke says the question is who will fund this and who will take care of these things. If this is not addressed, Jahnke says that if the landfill has to start charging, those batteries will end up in the trash, causing more fires. Jahnke says that while this issue is being researched, more fires are occurring each month in the waste industry than in the previous month.
Chris Jahnke says residents can bring their batteries to the Cass County Landfill free of charge, and the landfill will safely package them and send them off to be recycled properly, which will help prevent many fires. Jahnke says they are still accepting e-bike batteries to save a lot of headaches within the system. He asks consumers to treat batteries with great care.
The EPA identified 245 lithium-battery fires at 64 waste-management facilities across the United States between 2013 and 2020, including 139 fires at landfills and 15 involving transportation facilities such as garbage trucks.
