On 16th October 2025, the London Fire Brigade issued a warning about the dangers of throwing out batteries in bins, after a bin lorry caught fire in Brixton, South London. While the exact cause of the lorry fire remains unknown, the LFB suspects it is due to lithium-ion batteries being thrown away alongside regular household waste. Since then, the topic of battery-disposal fire hazards in the UK has remained salient.
But this begs the question: do you know how you should dispose of your batteries? According to Material Focus, at least 25% of the UK population throw their old batteries in the household bin, mostly because they don't know what to do with them or how to dispose batteries properly. Furthermore, nearly half of UK adults are not aware that batteries and electronic items can cause fires if crushed or damaged, showing the knowledge gap in the UK of how to safely and responsibly throw away batteries once they've lost their power.
In this post, we tackle some commonly asked questions regarding proper battery recycling and disposal, and hopefully prevent another bin lorry fire in the UK!
Why does improper battery disposal cause fires?
We know that recycling is good for the environment, and it is no different with batteries. The best way to throw away used batteries is to recycle them, because recycling batteries and electronic goods results in the extraction of metals and other valuable resources for new products. But why does improper battery disposal cause fires?
When bin lorries collect household waste, the contents of the bin go into a compactor to crush and compress rubbish. If batteries and electronic items are present, the compacting action damages the batteries, cause the positive and negative electrodes within to come into contact, resulting in a short circuit that sparks and generates intense heat, as well as releasing flammable gases. This process is known as thermal runaway. If the damaged battery is amongst flammable material such as paper and cardboard, it can cause rapid fires that can reignite even after being extinguished.
Not only does this cause material and financial damage to waste collection and disposal equipment, it can pose serious danger to the workers at waste disposal and recycling facilities. Therefore, proper battery disposal doesn't just save the environment, it can save lives!
How to safely recycle old batteries
Safely throwing away household batteries is much easier than you may think. There are 2 main ways to recycle batteries in the UK:
At your local store
You can throw away your portable batteries at your local supermarket, or any other big shop nearby that sells over 32kg of batteries a year. Battery recycling points are often near the checkout area, or sometimes they can be behind the tills so it's always worth asking a member of staff. These battery recycling points accept your usual types of batteries such as AAA, AA and 9V batteries, button and coin batteries and battery packs. Both single-use and rechargeable batteries can be safely disposed of and recycled this way. If you are unsure, a member of staff will be available to answer your queries.
At your local recycling centre
Bring your batteries on your next trip to your local recycling centre and find the area or specialised bin for household batteries. This ensures old batteries are kept together and therefore handled differently to other types of waste. If you are looking to recycle your car batteries, they should be brought to a recycling centre.
To find your nearest battery recycling point in the UK, enter your postcode on the Recycle Your Electricals website and it will show the nearest locations where you can recycle your batteries.
Tips for recycling batteries
Create your own battery bin
It is estimated that an average UK household throws away around 21 batteries per year. That's quite a lot of batteries! If you are diligent, you can bring your spent batteries to your local battery recycling point every time they run out. Alternatively, you can store your old batteries in a bowl or a bag (out of reach of children and pets, of course!), so you can recycle batteries in bulk when you make your bi-annual trip to the recycling centre.
Tape the terminals
For extra security with coin and button batteries, place a piece of tape over the terminals, effectively taping either end of the battery, as demonstrated in this video. This prevents them from short-circuiting and causing a fire.
Mind the leak
If your battery is leaking, put it in a sealed plastic bag to contain any liquid and take it to a recycling centre. A member of staff will be able to provide you advise on proper disposal. Make sure to clean the site of the leak from your household surfaces too to stop children or pets from accidentally ingesting the liquid.
Switch to rechargeable batteries
OK, this is not quite to do with recycling batteries, but if you are a battery-heavy household—for instance, if your children play with lots of electronic toys or you use a lot of gadgets—then consider switching to rechargeable batteries. This reduces the amount of single-use batteries your family uses up and throws away, as the rechargeable batteries can be reused hundreds of times. Not only is this good for the environment, it is also economical for your wallet. From popular AA rechargeable batteries to specialty 9V rechargeable batteries, GP has the right rechargeable batteries for you and your family. In fact, if your family uses a combination of AA and AAA batteries, why not opt for our Recyko E821 Charger that comes with both sizes?
What about electrical items such as electric toothbrushes and vapes?
If your electric toothbrush stops working and you cannot physically detach the battery source from the item, do not just throw it in the bin! Household batteries are a hazard enough when disposed of incorrectly, but many electronic items use built-in lithium-ion batteries, which are an even greater fire risk when damaged. So just like it's important to recycle your batteries, it's equally as important to recycle your electricals, no matter how big or small (yes, recycle your vapes!), in a safe and proper manner.
Material Focus has rolled out its Recycle Your Electricals campaign nationwide (you may be familiar with the mascot Hypnocat) to encourage proper disposal of old electrical goods, and there are over 30,000 locations across the UK where you can donate or recycle your old electricals. The website has lots of information on how to recycle your electronic goods, whether it's recycling vapes to laptops to unwanted cables.
Make the switch to rechargeable batteries today!
If you are a battery-heavy household and find yourself having to dispose of a lot of single-use batteries every few months, why not make the switch to rechargeable batteries? GP offers a wide range of rechargeable batteries in the most common sizes, from AAA and AA to 9V and D batteries. Not only is this more economical in the long run, it also reduces the number of batteries being thrown away and recycled and helps the environment too. Make the switch to rechargeable batteries today with the wide range of GP rechargeable batteries!
