FIREFIGHTERS were called to a residential street in Poole earlier this week after a bin lorry caught fire.
The blaze was caused by batteries being disposed of in a household bin, which when crushed by the lorry caused them to catch fire.
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “On Tuesday, drivers of a waste lorry noticed smoke coming from the vehicle so quickly unloaded the waste onto the road to prevent the lorry from catching alight.
“Once firefighters had extinguished the fire, the cause became apparent….Batteries!
“Batteries should not be put in general waste bins, they should be recycled separately.”
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Batteries should never be left in recycling or waste containers.
When crushed, either by the collection vehicles or at a waste management centre, they can catch fire, which can be a big problem if surrounded by flammable items like paper, cardboard and plastic.
Batteries need to be collected, transported and recycled separately to make sure the heavy metals they contain (for example, nickel and cadmium) do not leak out and pollute the local environment.
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