Lithium-ion batteries can be found in cell phones, electric vehicles and more. But local waste and recycling company Rumpke wants to tell customers where it doesn’t want to find those batteries — inside its transfer stations.
A small lithium-ion battery fire broke out at Rumpke’s Dayton Material Recovery Facility early Friday morning. This is a recycling transfer facility that takes materials like glass or cardboard.
“Normally when we see batteries in our facility, it just means that someone put it in their recycling,” said Molly Kennedy, Rumpke’s communications coordinator for the Dayton region.
Workers managed to put out the flames, according to Kennedy. Rumpke investigates these instances to ensure the company is doing what it can to be safe, Kennedy said. But it all comes down to what the public puts into their collection bins.
“We don't always necessarily know when that battery arrived, where it came from, (or) how the battery fire started,” Kennedy said.
No Rumpke facility accepts these batteries because they can combust without warning and the company has no end user that it can safely transport these batteries to. But staff still find them in the materials they collect.
Last month, there were two other instances of these types of batteries nearly catching fire at this facility alone.
Lithium-ion batteries were also suspected to be the cause of a fire at Rumpke’s main recycling plant in St. Bernard, which warranted responses from several local fire departments.
Kennedy said not only is it unsafe for staff, it can also destroy material that could’ve been reused.
“We talk about the battery fires we see at our recycling facilities because that's material that we can't sell and be turned back into something new anymore,” she said.
Customers looking to dispose of lithium-ion batteries should check their county solid waste district website for potential disposal locations and instructions, Kennedy noted.
Other materials that Rumpke Recycling will not accept:
- Propane tanks
- Charcoal embers
- Pool chemicals
- Combustible materials
