Lithium batteries are bursting into flames, starting dangerous, toxic trash fires

The Hill

03-06-2025

Every day, essential workers in recycling and waste management face an escalating threat: fires and explosions sparked by improperly discarded consumer products containing lithium-ion batteries and other hazardous products such as compressed gas cylinders.
These fire incidents are no longer isolated — they are becoming alarmingly routine. Without swift, coordinated action from both manufacturers and policymakers, the situation will only grow worse.
From laptops and wireless headphones to power tools, e-scooters, vapes and even light-up jackets, today's households are filled with lithium-ion powered products. Add to that other fire hazards — compressed gas cylinders, road flares and other products with explosive potential — and the risk multiplies. When these products end up in household trash or recycling bins, they can and do ignite fires and cause explosions in collection vehicles, materials recovery facilities, landfills and waste-to-energy plants.
These fires and explosions endanger essential workers and the public. And the consequences reach even further, because the waste and recycling industry now faces skyrocketing insurance premiums and, increasingly, the risk of becoming altogether uninsurable.
Facilities damaged by fires often shut down, sometimes permanently, cutting off critical services that communities and businesses depend on.
Recent data confirm this growing crisis. Across North America, publicly reported fires at waste and recycling facilities increased 15 percent in 2024, from 373 incidents in 2023 to 430, according to Fire Rover's annual report — a conservative estimate. Electronics recycling facilities experienced a 56 percent surge in fires last year alone, the highest figure since the company began tracking.
This is also an economic and national security issue. A thriving circular economy — one that recycles valuable materials instead of wasting them — supports local jobs, strengthens U.S. manufacturing, protects the free market and reduces our reliance on imported raw materials. At a time when policymakers are working to rebuild resilient domestic supply chains and secure critical minerals for technology and clean energy, investing in safer product management is common sense.
We need solutions that prioritize both safety and sustainability. Product design must account for safe, cost-effective end-of-life management, including identifiable and removable batteries (and we should not put products on the market without a sustainable, coordinated end-of-life plan). Further, it's important that we clearly label hazards and provide proper disposal instructions. And finally, we must ensure consumers have accessible alternatives to household disposal— ones that are both free and convenient, ideally through Extended Producer Responsibility systems.
These issues have been prioritized by many industries, with 14 leading national organizations, including the Association of Plastic Recyclers, the Institute of Hazardous Materials Management and the Recycled Materials Association, emphasizing the critical need for product, worker and public safety.
Manufacturers must take responsibility for the full life cycle of their products, and policymakers must act now to protect workers, communities and critical infrastructure. Without action, the risks — and the costs — will only escalate.
The path forward is clear but will require action and the political will to change. Together, we can safeguard public health and worker safety, strengthen recycling systems and build a cleaner, safer and more economically resilient future for all.
Heidi Sanborn, MPA, is executive director of the National Stewardship Action Council. Amy Lestition Burke, FASAE, CAE, is CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America.