A charger full of batteries set rubbish alight inside a bin lorry in Tangerine Close, Greenstead, on Wednesday. Firefighters put it out in under 40 minutes.

A charger full of batteries set fire to rubbish inside a bin lorry in Greenstead on Wednesday lunchtime.

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service was called to Tangerine Close at 12.19pm on 11 November. Crews pulled the burning bags of rubbish out of the lorry and put out a small fire. They left at 12.57pm. The details are on the service’s own incident record, number 348224.

The fire service said the cause was “a charger full of batteries”. Its photographs show the rubbish tipped out on the road behind the lorry and a row of burnt cells on the tarmac.

A melted charger case and a row of burnt cylindrical battery cells lying on wet tarmac
The burnt batteries recovered from the lorry in Tangerine Close. Photo: Essex County Fire and Rescue Service

Why batteries catch fire in a bin lorry

Station Manager Nick Singleton said batteries can catch fire if they are damaged during collection.

“It might seem like a small thing but batteries can catch fire if they are damaged during rubbish collection,” he said.

“If it happens inside a bin lorry, it can put the refuse collectors, the public and our firefighters at risk.

“Please dispose of your batteries properly, not with domestic household waste.”

What it means for you

Batteries, even dead ones, should never go in your rubbish bag. Essex County Council’s Love Essex guidance lists where they can go instead:

  • Shops: most electrical retailers and supermarkets have a battery drop-off point.
  • Libraries: many Essex libraries have a small battery box for AA, AAA, 6V and D batteries and for phone and laptop batteries. Ask the library staff.
  • Recycling centres: household batteries and car batteries from your own home can go to any Essex County Council recycling centre. In Colchester that is Shrub End Road, which has to be booked first and is on winter hours of 9am to 4pm.

The same guidance covers “hidden battery” items, where the battery cannot easily be taken out. Electric toothbrushes, shavers, power banks and headphones are common examples. They go to a recycling centre or a retailer’s take-back scheme, not the bin. Vapes contain batteries and should not go in general rubbish either.

Colchester City Council’s free Saturday drop-off points, which take bulky household items, do not accept batteries.