Industry guide for collecting, handling, and treating waste lithium batteries.

Lithium batteries are now embedded across an expanding range of electrical products, creating a fire risk that can emerge at almost any point from collection to recycling. This industry guide brings together practical experience from across the WEEE, battery, waste-management and insurance sectors to help operators identify those risks and strengthen prevention, handling and emergency response.

A risk that extends across the entire value chain

Lithium batteries have become increasingly common in portable electronics, power tools, e-bikes, e-scooters and other electrical products. When these products enter waste streams, batteries may be damaged during collection, transport, unloading, storage or treatment, creating the potential for thermal events and fires.

The consequences extend beyond the immediate incident. Battery fires can endanger personnel, damage facilities and equipment, interrupt production and destroy materials that could otherwise be recovered. They can also increase insurance costs or make appropriate insurance cover more difficult to secure.

The challenge will not disappear quickly. Even as the EU Batteries Regulation introduces new requirements for the removability and replaceability of batteries, equipment containing embedded batteries that are difficult or potentially dangerous to remove will continue entering waste streams for years.

Moving from fire response to risk prevention

The guide takes a whole-system approach. Fire prevention cannot begin only when WEEE reaches the recycling plant. Risk needs to be managed from the point where batteries and battery-containing products are discarded, through collection, logistics and storage, to preparation for reuse and final treatment.

Recommendations cover facility risk and emergency planning, fire detection and suppression, staff training, collection infrastructure, transport, storage, handling of damaged batteries and the reception and treatment of WEEE.

For WEEE recyclers, particular attention is given to what happens before mechanical treatment. Incoming material should be inspected, battery-containing equipment identified and batteries removed where accessible before processes that could damage them. The guide also addresses small and increasingly pervasive electronics containing lithium batteries, which can be difficult to identify within WEEE streams.

Safe transport and storage are part of the solution

Transport is another critical link. WEEE containing embedded lithium batteries, as well as loose or mixed batteries containing lithium batteries, may be subject to international dangerous-goods requirements for road, rail, inland waterways and maritime transport. The guide brings these requirements into the wider operational context rather than treating transport as an isolated issue.

Storage recommendations focus on preventing physical damage, short circuits and exposure to excessive heat or water, while ensuring batteries can be identified, monitored and isolated when necessary. Damaged or defective batteries require additional precautions because of their elevated risk.

Fire prevention and insurability are increasingly connected

One of the guide's distinctive features is the inclusion of the insurance perspective. Effective risk management does more than protect workers and infrastructure. It can influence whether risks remain insurable and whether insurance can be offered at an affordable level.

Insurers may consider facility condition, location, fire-protection systems, previous losses, certifications and the overall fire hazard when assessing risk. Prevention, maintenance and reliable operational data therefore form part of a broader resilience strategy for recycling facilities.

A practical resource for the industry

The guide is designed for the people and companies managing these risks in practice, including collection sites, municipalities, logistics and storage operators, preparation-for-reuse facilities, WEEE recyclers, battery recyclers, producers, PROs, regulators and insurers.

Its annexes turn the guidance into a practical reference, covering suitable collection containers, transport requirements, different types of electrical fires, examples of small electronics containing lithium batteries, and good practices for storing, packaging and transporting waste lithium batteries.

Building a safer battery and WEEE chain

The central message is that lithium battery fire risk cannot be managed by one operator or at one point in the chain. Collection, transport, storage and treatment are interconnected, and weaknesses upstream can create risks downstream.

The guide therefore provides a common framework for improving practice while recognising that every facility and operation is different. It is intended as a source of recommendations rather than a one-size-fits-all prescription, with operators expected to assess measures against their own risks and circumstances.

About the Industry Guide

Developed through collaboration between eight industry associations and Insurance Europe, the guide builds on earlier industry research into lithium battery fires and consolidates operational experience across the battery and WEEE value chains. It is intended to remain useful as technology, regulation and industry practice evolve, and explicitly invites further good-practice recommendations for future versions

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