Vapes warning after recycling centre fires

Liam Randall, Local Democracy Reporter

People have been urged not to dispose of used vapes in household bins after an increase in fires at a recycling centre.

Wrexham Council said there had been seven fires caused by vapes and lithium-ion batteries contained within them at the site on Bryn Lane on Wrexham Industrial Estate in the last fortnight alone.

FCC Environment, which manages the facility on the local authority’s behalf, has installed new fire safety systems following a rise in insurance costs.

Residents are now being advised to dispose of vapes and batteries safely by taking them to one of Wrexham’s three household recycling centres or a nearby supermarket.

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Risk

Gareth Jones, head of service strategy within the council’s environment department, said the fires were risking the safety of staff at the recycling centre.

He said: “Over the last few weeks, we’ve had an increase in the number of fires within the recycling processing plant.

“That’s primarily been caused by vapes and other batteries so we’re asking the public to make sure they dispose of vapes sensibly.

“I don’t think people are aware of the dangers to staff and the building itself.

“There’s also the financial impact as it causes a two-hour shutdown of the system after every fire.

“Insurance also goes up so there’s a cost from these incidents to the taxpayers of Wrexham.”

Research by the recycling campaign group, Material Focus, shows around five million disposable vapes are thrown away each week in the UK.

Proposals have been outlined to ban single-use vapes in Wales from April next year.

The Welsh Government said this would help to reduce the environmental impact of disposing of them.

Mr Jones said the council was exploring a number of avenues to allow vapes and batteries to be thrown away safely such as dedicated kerbside collections.

He said: “We want to make sure as much waste is recycled as possible and that means separating batteries and vapes from general waste.

“Most supermarkets will have an option for you to drop them off. Failing that, they can bring them to household recycling centres to dispose of.

“We are considering alternative options we can offer within the council because of the seriousness of the situation and the frequency of these fires.”