Northwest Iowa Landfill is launching a new battery recycling program across its service area, according to the City of Sheldon and Northwest Iowa Landfill. The program is designed to make it easier and safer for residents to dispose of lithium-ion batteries. The initiative aims to keep hazardous batteries out of the regular trash and recycling stream, reducing the risk of fires at landfills and recycling facilities, according to the landfill.
Lithium-ion batteries are part of everyday life in multiple ways, according to the landfill. Lithium battery usage has increased 900% over the last 10 years. Improper disposal of these batteries in landfills and recycling centers is a major cause of fires at those facilities, according to the landfill. While exact figures are not available for all battery-caused fires, catastrophic waste and recycling facility fires caused by lithium-ion batteries have risen 41% over the last five years. Those incidents have caused more than $2.5 billion in damages, according to the landfill.
Northwest Iowa Landfill has installed specialized battery collection bins purchased from CleanRiver Recycling Solutions, a company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, that provides recycling collection systems used by municipalities and waste facilities throughout North America.