A fire at the Ballina Resource Recovery Centre over the weekend has prompted a timely reminder about safe battery disposal.
Ballina Fire and Rescue NSW crews were called to the facility on Sunday afternoon to respond to a fire at the builders' waste drop-off area. The facility was temporarily closed while firefighters brought the fire under control and assessed the scene. The facility has since been deemed safe and reopened to the public.
While the cause of the fire is still under investigation, multiple hazardous items including batteries, gas bottles, chemicals, fuel, and aerosols were found in the pile. All of these items have a designated safe drop-off location, which should be used to prevent such incidents.
Unfortunately, incidents like this are not uncommon, with nearly 30 fires in waste and recycling facilities and collection trucks every day across Australia. At the Ballina Resource Recovery Centre, damaged batteries, chemicals and other hazardous materials cause regular flare-ups.
New NSW Government trial aims to prevent dangerous battery fires
To help reduce the risk of dangerous and costly fires, Ballina Shire Council is participating in a new NSW Government trial to help households and small businesses safely dispose of products containing embedded batteries, such as electric toothbrushes, vapes and handheld vacuum cleaners. This will reduce both the number of products going to landfill, and the risk of batteries sparking fires in bins, trucks and waste facilities.
As part of the trial, the Ballina Resource Recovery Centre at 167 Southern Cross Dr is now accepting household embedded battery products free of charge.
Embedded batteries are small batteries which are built into products and cannot be removed. They are often found in household items such as vapes, electric toothbrushes, e-bikes, smart watches, portable speakers, vacuums, light up toys, and more.
These batteries are uniquely challenging for the waste management sector because they are made of materials, including lithium-ion, that are difficult to recycle and a significant fire hazard risk.
"This trial is a welcome initiative to make it easier for people to do the right thing with embedded batteries, protecting our local community and environment by reducing the number of embedded-battery products that are mistakenly disposed of in kerbside bins," said Justine Rowe, Resource Recovery Education Officer.
"Through the trial, we hope Ballina residents will learn more about embedded-battery products – including how to identify them, the types of risks they pose, why correct disposal is so important, and how they can dispose of them safely."
The Ballina Community Recycling Centre, with dedicated bins now on site to collect embedded battery products, is one of 34 centres across the state participating in the EPA-led trial, including Lismore and Kyogle in the Northern Rivers.
E-waste that may contain embedded batteries, including laptops, gaming controllers and tablets, should still be directed to Council's free e-waste collection service also at the Resource Recovery Centre.
More information about the NSW Government's embedded batteries trial, which is active now and will run until September 2026, can be found on the NSW EPA website here: https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/embedded-batteries. Ballina specific information can be found here: Embedded Battery Trial | Ballina Shire Council.
