In case you need it, here’s a real-life example of why you should heed the disposal and recycling warnings on consumer products. A California electronics company was fined $25,000 for illegally disposing of lithium ions the battery. Batteries, like those found in many rechargeable electronic devices—and yes, Electric Car — ignite when they are crushed in the garbage compactor truck carry them.
Based on Mercury News, the company, iDiskk, LLC of Campbell, California, simply throws the lithium ion battery in the trash along with the regular trash. In three separate incidents, when the bins were arrived and compacted on board by garbage trucks, they broke and caught fire.
During an incident that took place on October 13, 2021, a garbage truck was forced to push all their goods to the middle of the residential street to prevent the vehicle from catching fire. According to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office, during the removal of the smoldering garbage, the truck’s fork lift also broke the power cord, so it was necessary to fix.
Lithium-ion batteries can explode when the divider between the negatively charged anode and the negatively charged anode is damaged, causing a short circuit. These short circuits can lead to a runaway endothermic reaction. It is the same phenomenon that causes a fire in Teslas after Hurricane Ian floodedas HP laptop recalled in 2019 and Samsung Note 7 recalled phones in 2016. In an effort to make the battery more compact, those dividers have become extremely thin, less than 20 micron in many cases. It’s easy to see why it couldn’t stand it 2,750 psi . compressor in a standard garbage truck.
Two other fires caused by iDiskk’s improper battery handling occurred on September 22 and October 6, 2021. The DA’s office says the company has cooperated with their investigation, taking steps to improve it. improve compliance, pay civil penalties and “agree to be bound by a perpetual order never to improperly dispose of hazardous waste again.”
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