The Institute of Solid State Physics, University of Latvia (ISSP UL) recently partnered with the waste management company CleanR for an educational campaign "Uzmanību – deg!" (Attention – burns!). This initiative aims to draw public attention to the significant fire risks caused by the improper disposal of everyday electrical appliances and batteries.
The campaign highlights the dangerous consequences of throwing items like old mobile phones, wireless headphones, or electronic toys into regular household waste. Because waste collection trucks compact the trash they collect, the hidden batteries inside these devices can sustain severe damage, rapidly overheat, and ignite.
To demonstrate these hazards, ISSP UL researchers from the Energy Materials Laboratory provided their scientific expertise by performing specialized experiments, simulating the extreme conditions and stresses that batteries undergo when carelessly discarded.
The first experiment captures the volatile reaction and rapid combustion of a battery when it is directly exposed to intense heat.
The second experiment demonstrates the immediate fire hazard that occurs when a battery is mechanically deformed and crushed.
Because the materials inside batteries are both hazardous when damaged and highly valuable for recycling, proper sorting and drop-off at designated collection points are critically important. ISSP UL strongly endorses this safety message and advocates for responsible disposal practices that protect waste management infrastructure, their workers and the public, as well as the environment.
