A fire that erupted inside a recycling truck in Kelowna, B.C., this week is prompting an important reminder about hazardous material being tossed into recycling bins.
“Very scary situation,” said Cynthia Coates, supervisor of solid waste services with the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO).
“It seems to be a little bit more prevalent as we see more and more lithium ion batteries out there in the world. They seem to be a big culprit.”
On Wednesday, a driver of a recycling truck was forced to urgently dump a big load of material in a Kelowna school parking lot after flames erupted inside the vehicle.
The suspected cause was deemed to be a metal fuel filter that was improperly placed in a recycling bin.
“You’re compacting that stuff. It’s breaking. Things are opening up. Things are going all over the rest of the stuff, so it does create a really risky situation,” Coates said.
In April, a garbage truck caught fire in Enderby.
The city said there were more than 100 cellphone batteries in a bag, which ended up inside the truck.
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The batteries likely ignited when they were compressed.
According to the RDCO, hazardous and potentially risky material includes anything corrosive, flammable or poisonous to less-obvious items, such as batteries, including those in e-cigarettes or vaping devices, metal automobile fuel filters, power tools, smoke alarms and propane tanks.
“This cart is only for paper and packaging,” Coates said, referring to a curbside recycling bin. “Everything else, you need to find another home for and there’s many options for that.”
One of those options is Kelowna Recycling on Windsor Road, which accepts a lengthy list of hazardous material including electronics and more.
“Household paints, household aerosols, aerosol cans that contain a flammable liquid that could be punctured by the compactor,” said Chase Fennessy, the facility’s manager. “Those are super dangerous.”
It’s the type of danger residents need to be mindful of when tossing items into their curbside bins.
“Sometimes it’s ignorance to the rules, sometimes it’s ignorance to the danger but I think a lot of people are putting their best effort in,” Fennessy said.
Fennessy echoed the RDCO’s message on proper disposal of any hazardous material.
“Most of the time the best option is to call us, check with us and see if what you have is something we accept, ” he said. “If we don’t accept it, we help direct you to the right place.”
Fortunately no one was hurt in Wednesday’s truck fire incident.
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