Sharing Experiences And Best Practices With Batteries In WEEE
Lithium and other high-energy batteries are turning up in more and more electrical and electronic equipment creating a growing challenge across the WEEE collection and treatment chain. When these batteries are damaged during collection, transport, unloading, storage or treatment, they can trigger serious fires at recycling facilities.
In October 2020, EERA invited its members to share their real-world experience of preventing these fires and managing battery-related risk. The result is a report that brings together practical knowledge from recycling companies across two critical stages: collection and transport to recycling facilities, and reception, storage and treatment once WEEE arrives on site.
The central message is simple: fire prevention starts long before WEEE reaches the treatment plant. Avoiding damage to batteries during collection and logistics, identifying and segregating battery-containing equipment, and handling it appropriately are essential first steps reinforced at the facility by the right operational procedures, storage arrangements, technical infrastructure, detection systems and emergency response planning.
Drawing on members' operational experience, the report sets out practical measures for improving safety, while also flagging wider challenges around collection practices, staff training, product design, producer responsibility and the rising costs of managing battery-related risk.
Collection and transport of battery-containing WEEE
The central message is simple: fire prevention starts long before WEEE reaches the treatment plant. Avoiding damage to batteries during collection and logistics, identifying and segregating battery-containing equipment, and handling it appropriately are essential first steps reinforced at the facility by the right operational procedures, storage arrangements, technical infrastructure, detection systems and emergency response planning.
Drawing on members' operational experience, the report sets out practical measures for improving safety, while also flagging wider challenges around collection practices, staff training, product design, producer responsibility and the rising costs of managing battery-related risk.
Preventing battery damage during collection and transport is one of the report's central safety messages. EERA members reported that many battery-containing devices arrive at recycling facilities already damaged, raising the risk of fire during unloading, storage and subsequent treatment, so battery-related risk has to be tackled before WEEE ever reaches the recycling facility.
Preventing damage. Where possible, removable batteries should be taken out before collection, or when equipment first arrives at collection centres, with damaged batteries segregated and handled separately rather than entering the general WEEE stream. Bulk transport is a particular concern for small electronic equipment: in large containers, equipment can be crushed under the weight of other material or deliberate compaction, and tipping during unloading creates further impacts that can damage batteries — practices that run counter to both ADR requirements and EN 50625-4 provisions, which prohibit crushing, compaction and uncontrolled tipping of WEEE. The report recommends collecting and transporting small battery-containing devices in boxes or cages of no more than 3 m³, smaller where possible, rather than bulk containers — never compacted, dropped in, or tipped from height.
Identifying and segregating batteries. Effective segregation depends on knowing which products actually contain batteries, harder as batteries are embedded deeper into products and power cables give way to plug-in chargers. The report calls for standardised, easily recognisable labelling, and points to the role consumers can play, since they often know whether their equipment is battery-operated, recommending better public information on separating batteries before collection.
Training throughout the chain. The variety of equipment now in circulation places real demands on staff responsible for collection, identification and sorting. Effective segregation depends on properly trained staff, with regular refreshers as products evolve. EERA members see a role for producer responsibility organisations and national authorities in providing expert advice and while online training helps, the report also recommends regular on-site sessions.
The overall approach is straightforward: reduce the opportunity for batteries to be damaged before WEEE reaches the treatment facility, through the right collection systems, segregation, careful handling and well-trained personnel at every stage.
Reception, storage and treatment at recycling facilities
Once WEEE arrives at a recycling facility, the focus shifts to controlling risk during unloading, internal movement, storage and treatment. Recycling companies have limited control over the condition of incoming material battery-containing equipment may already be damaged on arrival which is why reception and storage of untreated WEEE are identified as critical stages for fire prevention.
Managing deliveries and unloading. Traditional practices like immediately tipping material from vehicles can increase the risk of battery damage, and tight delivery schedules often lead to excessive stockpiling and repeated movement of untreated WEEE. EERA members reported real safety improvements from more controlled arrangements just-in-time deliveries and avoiding deliveries shortly before a site closes so incoming material can be properly supervised. Unloading should be supervised by staff trained to recognise hazards and intervene immediately; the report advises against tipping WEEE from height, since the impact can damage batteries and cause sparks or fire. Where material is unloaded onto the ground or a pile, suitable machinery should be on hand to isolate hot material and move it to a safe area.
Controlling storage and stockpiles.Untreated material inside treatment halls should be limited to what can realistically be processed by end of shift, with excess moved to dedicated safe storage areas such as bunkers. Untreated WEEE should be kept separate from treated fractions, with stockpile height and volume controlled, sufficient distance maintained between materials, and access kept clear for equipment that may be needed to remove material quickly if a hot spot develops.
Monitoring. Battery-related incidents don't always show up immediately fires can develop after a delay, making ongoing monitoring essential around the clock. EERA members point to regular temperature monitoring, smoke detection and continuous site supervision, whether through security personnel or technical surveillance, alongside close contact with local fire services and regularly reviewed alarm plans.
Technical and infrastructural measures
Alongside day-to-day operational practices, the report looks at how the physical design of a facility and its detection and fire-control systems can help manage battery-related risk. The emphasis is on separating materials, containing incidents, and making sure developing hot spots or fires can be detected and reached quickly.
Segregation and safe storage. Untreated WEEE should be kept separate from treated fractions and stored in dedicated bunkers or containers, sized small enough to limit the potential spread of fire while staying accessible to machinery that can remove hot material. Storage areas are best located outside and away from processing buildings, covered by roofing or a canopy, with bunkers built away from walls and using fire-resistant construction. Treated fractions plastics, metals and batteries should ideally be stored in different buildings, and the site layout should include a designated safe area for isolating hot or burning material with clear access for firefighting vehicles.
Detection and fire-control systems. Infrared cameras, smoke detectors and heat-detection systems all have a role in monitoring bunkers and buildings some recyclers favour smoke detection because smoke can appear before a stockpile reaches the temperature needed to trigger heat detection. On suppression, high-volume sprinkler systems above storage bunkers cool neighbouring material and deliver enough water where a fire develops; contributing recyclers favoured remotely activated systems, so they keep operating even if personnel leave the area. Turret extinguishing systems combined with detection technology also performed well, directing water at hot spots from a safer distance. Treatment machinery matters too: shredders and granulators may include water-injection systems, and conveyors should keep burning material accessible for extinguishing.
No single measure removes the underlying battery risk on its own. Physical segregation, fire-resistant storage, continuous monitoring, appropriate extinguishing systems and clear access for intervention work together as layers of protection, designed to stop an isolated incident from spreading.
Fire detection and response
Even with strong preventive, operational and infrastructural measures in place, hot spots, sparks and small fires can still occur. Because a small incident can escalate quickly when surrounded by combustible material, rapid detection and response are critical.
Early detection and intervention. Automatic alarm systems should warn personnel and alert external fire services as quickly as possible, external assistance should be called immediately, rather than waiting to see whether an incident can be handled internally. Suitable material-handling equipment, such as mobile scrap handlers with long extension arms, should be readily available to separate burning material from surrounding WEEE and move it to a safe area.
Fire suppression. High-volume sprinkler and turret extinguishing systems that can be activated immediately are central to the report's recommendations, with fixed systems valued for continuing to operate even if personnel have to leave the affected area. Large volumes of water are considered the most effective way to control these fires and cool surrounding materials, portable extinguishers are seen as unsuitable, given their limited capacity and the proximity to the fire they require.
Working with fire services. Close cooperation with local fire services is a core part of emergency preparedness. External responders should be familiar with a site's layout and the specific risks posed by the materials handled there, with regular joint exercises and advance discussion of firefighting strategies recommended.
Protecting personnel. Staff need regular training in recognising hazards and responding to incidents but intervention should never put people at unnecessary risk. Only staff trained to use firefighting equipment should remain involved in tackling a fire; everyone else should move to designated assembly points. The overriding principle, as the report puts it, is "safety of staff before cost."
The cost of battery-related fire risks
Managing battery-related fire risk carries real financial weight for WEEE recyclers, who have already invested heavily in operational safety, with further preventive investment needed as the volume and variety of battery-powered products entering the waste stream keeps growing. These costs go well beyond treatment itself: fire prevention and detection systems, safer storage and handling, additional operational measures, and the cost of damage when fires do occur. Insurance is also becoming more expensive and harder to obtain, and the report argues these costs and risks are not sufficiently reflected in contracts between recyclers and parties operating within producer responsibility systems.
EERA's position is clear: the increased costs of managing battery-containing products should be borne by the stakeholders placing those products on the market. EERA is calling on policymakers and regulators to develop modulated fee systems that reflect the real, growing costs created by batteries in electrical and electronic equipment connecting recyclers' operational challenges to the wider question of producer responsibility and end-of-life cost allocation.
Key conclusions
Recycling companies have invested substantially in safer operations and built up considerable practical experience in managing batteries in WEEE. But the risks batteries pose can't be eliminated through measures at recycling facilities alone, they need to be addressed as early as possible across the whole collection and recycling chain.
Prevention has to start before treatment. Avoiding battery damage remains the single most important preventive measure. The report calls for removable batteries to be taken out before shipment, for equipment with embedded batteries to be identified and segregated, and for stronger enforcement of ADR requirements and the CENELEC EN 50625 standards governing WEEE collection and treatment.
Responsibility runs across the whole chain. Improving safety isn't just a job for recycling facilities, it calls for greater awareness among consumers and collection centres, better staff training, and standardised, easily recognisable labelling. Producers have a role too, with future product design needing to account for battery risk at end-of-life, including safer batteries, easier removal, and automated battery-detection technologies.
Safety measures need to keep pace with a changing waste stream, with the growing costs recyclers face recognised through producer responsibility and modulated fee systems. Safer management of batteries in WEEE ultimately depends on coordinated action across the entire product and recycling chain - from product design and collection, through transport and treatment, to emergency response.
Read the full technical report
Access the original EERA report for the complete operational recommendations and detailed examples shared by recycling companies.
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