UK's Waste System Is Smouldering - Vapes Are Fueling the Fires, and We're All Paying

1st December 2025

On 12 May 2025, Slough Borough Council reported a bin-lorry fire in Britwell the third such in a month. The fire was believed to come from a lithium-ion battery inside a disposable vape. The crew had to dump around five tonnes of rubbish mid-route to avoid the blaze spreading.
Slough Borough Council

In October 2024, Durham County Council issued a warning after multiple bin-lorry fires and several fires at waste-transfer stations caused by people putting vapes and batteries into regular rubbish bins.

More recently, in September 2025, Malvern Hills District Council (part of Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service) confirmed two fires in bin-lorries that were "possibly caused by the improper disposal of vapes." The council warned residents of the serious danger to refuse-collection staff and the public and noted that such fires also destroy or damage lorries.

At a waste-processing plant in Aldridge (West Midlands), Biffa reported that a fire on 1 July 2025 was "thought to have been caused by an exploding vape battery" after a disposable vape had been placed in a recycling bag. This was the second such fire in six months at that facility.

These are not isolated incidents. A broader picture shows an alarming upward trend.

According to the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and reporting organisations, there were more than 1,200 battery-related fires in UK waste sites and bin-lorries in the 12 months up to May 2024 — a 71% increase over the previous year.

The surge is driven in large part by hundreds of thousands — even millions — of disposable and rechargeable vapes being discarded every week.

Who Pays — And What It Costs

When a vape-related fire hits:

Bin-lorries may be taken out of service, loads dumped mid-route, and collections delayed — a direct cost to the waste-collection operations and a disruption to public services. For example, in one recent case a vehicle fire cost over £25,000 to repair, according to a council statement.

Recycling centres and waste-processing facilities face damage to machinery, conveyor belts, sorting lines, and require costly clean-up — potentially forcing entire sites to shut down temporarily.

Fire-services are repeatedly called out for fires that are often "hidden disasters" — fires started by crushed lithium batteries that are hard to extinguish, require special treatment, and put not only crews at risk but also local communities when lorries dump burning waste onto public roads.

The cost burden doesn't stay within waste companies and it eventually lands on council budgets and taxpayers. The more frequent these incidents become, the more waste services may raise fees, or councils may need to divert funds from other public services to cover damages and fire-service costs.

Every time a single vape is tossed into a black bin bag instead of a proper battery-recycling bin, there's a real risk — and a real potential cost.

A Looming Crisis Unless We Change Course

The root of the problem is simple. Almost all vapes especially the disposable ones contain lithium-ion batteries, which are dangerous if crushed. And many people still treat them as disposable solid waste, not hazardous waste.

Some councils are trying to respond

Tower Hamlets London Borough Council has recently launched a "Dispose Safe" campaign — urging residents to never place vapes or batteries in general bins, but instead to drop them off at supermarkets, recycling points, or return them to the shop where they were bought.
Tower Hamlets

More broadly, there are calls including from waste-operators such as Biffa for a national take-back scheme or kerbside collection specifically for vapes and small electrical items, to make safe disposal simple and accessible.

But so far these remain patchy and under-resourced. Until there is a robust, nationwide system for properly disposing of or recycling vapes and lithium-ion batteries — and widespread public awareness and the fires will continue. And so will the cost.

If nothing changes, every bin-lorry, every recycling centre, every fire engine that responds — and every one of us as taxpayers — will keep footing the bill for a problem that started with a disposable vape someone thoughtlessly threw away.

Scottish examples of vape / battery-related fires

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) reported a marked rise in fires involving rechargeable battery devices — including vapes — across Scotland. In one recent year there were at least 26 such fires, up from just three in 2018.
firescotland.gov.uk

Scottish Borders Council warned of multiple "near-miss incidents" and combustions in bin lorries or waste-transfer stations caused by vapes and e-cigarettes. The council has responded by installing dedicated vape-recycling bins at all its recycling centres (in towns such as Galashiels, Hawick, Peebles, and others) to mitigate the risk.

In Glasgow, there have been fires in three separate bin lorries reportedly caused by “exploding vape batteries.” One incident forced a rubbish load to be dumped in the middle of a street; another required a driver to run to a nearby school for a fire extinguisher before fire crews arrived.

Perth and Kinross Council publicly warned residents after a “huge fire” at its Friarton Road recycling centre, caused by a lithium-ion battery from a discarded electrical item. Authorities emphasised that items like vapes must be disposed of via the correct “small electricals” or battery-waste bins — not general rubbish.

A recent incident reported by Binn Group, a recycling centre operator near Glenfarg (Perthshire), involved a fire that destroyed a main waste-shed. Firefighters and facility operators suspect the blaze was triggered by a discarded battery or vape.

What these Scottish cases highlight — and why they matter

These are not rare “one-off” accidents: multiple councils and fire services across Scotland have issued repeated warnings and public appeals for safer disposal of vapes and lithium-ion batteries.

The problem affects not just recycling centres, but everyday bin-collections — meaning ordinary households contribute (often unknowingly) to the risk simply by putting vapes in general waste bins.

Fires caused by crushed batteries are dangerous because lithium-ion cells can overheat, catch fire spontaneously, and even explode — endangering waste-workers, emergency crews, and the public.

They also carry financial and environmental costs: damage to infrastructure (recycling sheds, vehicles), disruption to waste-collection services, increased pressure on fire services, and potentially increased waste-disposal costs for councils and taxpayers.

The risk is real and ongoing in Scotland

There are clear, recent, verified incidents in Scotland of bin-lorries or waste/recycling facilities catching fire because of discarded vapes or lithium-ion batteries. The repeated warnings from councils and fire services show that this is a systemic problem, not a fluke.