Batteries and vapes can cause fires

Putting vapes and batteries into your rubbish bin can cause fires. East Sussex Fire and Rescue recently had to put out a fire in one of our bin trucks on Sea Road. Biffa have said that vapes and batteries were found within the load that caught fire.

When there is a fire in one of the trucks, the waste that has been collected has to be dumped out of the truck onto the road, and then the fire service put the fire out before the waste can be reloaded into the truck. This means the truck is taken out of service and collections for the rest of the day are delayed, and in serious cases, it could cause injury to the crew or even the public who are around the truck.

Cllr Jo Walker, lead councillor for environment and neighbourhood wellbeing, said: “This is the third fire we have had in one of our bin lorries this year, it is really important that vapes and batteries are not put into your normal rubbish collection. They must be put into a separate, not black, bag, and can be left with either your rubbish or recycling collection on your normal collection day. Exploding batteries can have serious consequences for both our waste crews and the public, and it can cause problems for our collection services.”

You can check what can go into your waste collections on our waste and recycling webpages, and find out what to do with things that cannot be collected.