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Battery suspected cause of recycling centre fire

A fire involving 50 tonnes of shredded waste at a recycling centre is believed to have been caused by a discarded battery.

Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service was called to the FCC Environment site in Costessey, near Norwich, at about 17:40 BST on Thursday.

At its height, 50 firefighters and eight appliances were tackling the blaze, with one crew remaining on Friday morning.

An investigation is under way but in an update on social media, the fire service said a lithium-ion battery was the most likely cause, and reminded people not to put them in household waste bins.

"When these get compacted in the refuse lorry, it damages the cells in the battery, causing it to go into what's called thermal runaway," the service said.

"And this is when we see these fast, fierce and sometimes fatal fires."

Mike Sudds The inside of a waste recycling centre where a fire has happened. Two firefighters are in the area of the building where the photograph has been taken and are holding a hose. There is a pile of rubbish and there looks to be smoke damage inside the building.Mike Sudds
Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service says it was called to a waste recycling centre in Costessey at 17:37 BST

Norwich City Council warned on social media of potential delays to food and waste collections due to the fire.

At the start of the month, the fire service was called to a refuse lorry, which had started billowing smoke on its rounds in Dereham, and was believed to have been caused by a discarded battery-powered vacuum cleaner.

Recycling centres in Norfolk are currently unable to accept small electrical items and batteries following a fire at Wiser recycling centre in Thetford.

The fire, which happened in April, required 27 appliances to extinguish, and lithium-ion batteries were also believed to have been a key factor.

Mike Sudds An aerial of the waste recycling centre where fire service crews are parked up. There are firefighters on the ground and smoke is coming from one area of the building. Another part of the site looks blackened with smoke damage.Mike Sudds
The fire was said to have involved 50 tonnes of shredded waste

The service has advised people wanting to dispose of batteries to either keep them at home out of direct sunlight or to take them back to retailers.

For residents living in areas overseen by Norwich City Council and Broadland District Council, the advice is to separate batteries and leave them in a plastic bag for collection with recycling.

Whereas for South Norfolk Council, residents are told to book in advance for small electrical items and batteries to be collected.

An FCC Environment spokesperson said: "Batteries discarded in household waste are at a high risk of causing fires posing a danger to staff.

"We encourage all households to dispose of batteries and battery-operated electricals safely at dedicated recycling points."

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