Batteries behind rise in garbage truck fires on the Gold Coast

Australia Broadcast Center

27-05-2025

Flaming piles of garbage are being dumped on Gold Coast streets as the city's rubbish trucks catch fire because of batteries thrown in household waste.
Gold Coast City Council (GCCC) says it has recorded seven truck fires in May, the worst month on record for the city's garbage collectors.
Each was sparked by incorrectly disposed batteries, which forced trucks to dump entire loads to ensure the fire did not consume the whole vehicle.
Queensland Fire Department Superintendent Mark Halverson said all batteries, even the dead AAAs from the TV remote, were capable of starting fires if they were crushed or compacted in garbage collection trucks.
"Even if a battery appears to be flat, there's almost always some amount of energy that remains within it," he said.
"When that energy becomes exposed, there's obviously a lot of other combustibles in the truck and plenty of oxygen, so a very good opportunity for a fire to commence."
Mr Halverson said fire departments across the world had reported an increase in fires caused by lithium-ion batteries as the use of the technology skyrockets in rechargeable devices, including e-scooters and e-bikes.
He said fires caused by lithium-ion batteries were known to re-ignite after a fire had been put out.
"Sometimes that might be in a matter of minutes, it can be hours, and it certainly can even be a number of days later," he said.
He said that due to the risk, a load of garbage dumped on the street because of a battery fire had to be treated with extra care, even once it was wet and smouldering.
"It's not a case of just calling another [garbage] truck and putting it back in there."
GCCC's Water, Waste and Energy Committee chair councillor Shelley Curtis said as well as the expense and inconvenience caused by a bin truck having to dump its load because of fire, driver safety was the council's main concern.
"I'm a mother … and bin truck drivers are right up there with superheroes so we need to do everything to protect those men and women who deliver this service for our community," Cr Curtis said.
"It's critical and they are awesome people."
Cr Curtis said GCCC had not ruled out fining people for putting "contaminated waste in the wrong bins".
"Obviously, we don't want to go that far because a lot of the time it just comes down to not understanding what can go in which bin," she said.
"But disposing of your batteries should not be through your household bins, they really need to go through a recycling drop-off point."
Battery recycling bins are located at many major supermarkets, with other locations listed on Australia's official battery recycling scheme B-cycle.