A huge pile of rubbish was piled on to a busy road after a refuse truck had to be emptied to put out a fire sparked by a lithium battery.
The truck was in Sackville Road, Hove, when the blaze started.
It’s the latest in a series of fires caused by batteries thrown away in general waste rather than being recycled. Brighton and Hove City Council no longer picks up batteries as part of its recycling collection.
A council spokesman said: “Yesterday morning some rubbish caught fire in one of our refuse trucks on Sackville Road.
“The cause of the fire is suspected to be a lithium battery from a phone or similar device.
“These should not be put in general waste, but should be taken to a bin for small electrical items at a recycling point, one of our household waste recycling sites, Tech Takeback or to Curry’s or B&Q.
“East Sussex Fire and Rescue attended and put out the fire. This required the contents of the vehicle to be emptied into the road so it could be dealt with.
“Staff from our Cityclean team cordoned off the area. A specialist contractor with a crane was arranged to clear the refuse as quickly as possible.”
Their own fault for not offering a battery collection service. Who is really bothered to take the trip to a recycling centre to drop them off. Get with 21st century living, Cityclean.
You don’t need to go to a recycling centre.
Lots of shops have battery boxes to recycle batteries.
I’ve dropped mine off at Aldi, Poundland and Sainsburys for example.
This is not America; it is not a ‘bin truck’ or a ‘refuse truck’ it is either a dustcart or a bin lorry.
Note that the council only suspect it was a battery – perhaps it was something else such as a barbecue or matches?
Here’s an idea BHCC, collect batteries like you use to, then we won’t have this issue anymore. Obvious really when you consider how many batteries are in modern technology. Green council apparently