Waste crew member escapes injury after bin containing battery products explodes

The worker was part of a team of refuse workers for Barnet Council, and a video published by the Council, captures the shocking moment.

Barnet Council stated that combustible items such as batteries or aerosols had been wrongly placed into the residential bin. When this was crushed by the lorry’s impactor it caused the bin, and other debris to be fired out into the street.

A bin containing batteries explodes and narrowly misses a refuse worker. Photograph: Barnet Council 

Cllr Alan Schneiderman, Barnet Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change said: “The video is incredibly shocking, and we’re relieved that the crew members escaped unharmed.

“I hope this helps people to understand how important it is to properly recycle items such as gas canisters and bottles, batteries and aerosols, as on another day we might not have been so lucky.”

Over 1.1 billion electricals and 449. 9m loose batteries were binned last year, according to Recycle Your Electricals, a campaign which seeks to make it easier to reuse and recycle unwanted electricals.

Materials Focus, which runs the campaign, said there were over 1,200 fires in bin lorries and at waste sites last year, an all time high. 

It is thought that lack of awareness around safe disposing of batteries and how and where to recycle them has fuelled the rise, as well as an increase in the use of battery-powered products.

For example, around 1.3m single use vapes are now thrown away each week in the UK. Disposable vapes contain lithium-ion batteries which can easily catch fire if crushed or damaged.

Scott Butler, Executive Director of Recycle Your Electricals, commenting earlier this year on the spike in battery-related fires, stressed the risks to workers and the environment.

“With more and more products containing lithium-ion batteries, and battery fires on the rise it’s vital that we stop these fires and reduce the air pollution impact that they have on our local communities and the dangers they present to fire fighters and waste officers,” he said.

“We are also throwing away some of the most precious materials on the planet which are vital to our economy.  We are calling on everyone to make sure that they never bin and always recycle their electricals and their batteries.”

British Safety Council has published a guide for employers to manage risks posed by storing and charging lithium-powered e-bikes and scooters in the workplace. It is available to download for free here