Battery blowups and the lagging pace of product safety plans

By David Nesseth    

As global battery production surges — powering everything from light-up baby toys and smartwatches to e-bikes, vapes, and drones — our homes are increasingly filled with old and unwanted items tucked away in closets and basements. But as old phones, toothbrushes and laptops pile up, the lack of proper end-of-life management for lithium-ion batteries with tendencies to ignite when crushed or bent, poses a growing risk of explosions. They endanger curbside collection, recycling facilities and the environment, when the wrong decisions about their final chapter are made. 

For those in the stewardship and extended producer responsibility (EPR) sectors, the rapid growth of consumer tech and lithium-ion battery use has been daunting. Waste management plans simply haven’t kept pace. They are lagging for many reasons and showing few signs of catching up.  

 “Within two years we’re going to be an uninsurable industry, if we don’t get this under control,” says Heidi Sanborn, a leading EPR expert in California, and executive director of the Stewardship Action Foundation, who points out that some recycling facilities where products have exploded have as many as four separate insurance policies. 

 The Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) has gone so far as to declare a “product safety emergency.” It warns of the increasing number of fires and explosions caused by lithium-ion batteries, compressed gas cylinders, marine flares, fireworks, and similar products. These common items often lack plans for end-of-life management, clear labeling, and consumer education on safe management and disposal, states SWANA, which in 2024 formed a new lithium-ion battery workgroup.  

“They find their way into household trash and recycling bins, which has led to fires in collection vehicles, transfer stations, materials recovery facilities (MRFs), landfills, and waste-to-energy facilities,” SWANA announced. 

Fires, explosions, and a growing crisis

The latest major battery recycling plant fire in Canada was in late 2024 in Sainte-Catherine, on Montreal’s South Shore. A recent annual report published by the Service de sécurité incendie de Montréal states that lithium-ion fires have nearly tripled in the city since 2022, primarily due to the growth of electric scooters and bicycles.

While data specifically linked to batteries can be harder to find, there were at least 390 fire incidents at U.S. and Canadian recycling facilities in 2022. This is a new record, according to data from fire suppression system company Fire Rover.  

In April of this year, the City of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories experienced a landfill fire linked to improperly disposed electronics. The city wrote on Facebook that it strongly reminds all residents that electronics and other hazardous materials must be properly sorted, separated from household waste, and disposed of through appropriate channels. Cost is often a barrier, though, with many municipalities relying on third-party contractors to operate hazardous waste depots, inflating costs and tempting residents to dump items illegally or slip them into curbside waste. 

Battery development is surging as global demand rises. In 2024, annual battery demand surpassed 1 terawatt-hour (TWh), driven largely by electric vehicle sales, which rose by 25% to 17 million units, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). 

At the same time, prices are falling. Lithium costs have dropped over 85% from their 2022 peak. While this has helped expand battery access, it has also increased risks, prompting Transport Canada to issue public safety videos warning of unbranded battery products and shipping hazards. 

In the fall of 2024, a container at the Port of Montreal holding 15,000 kilograms of lithium batteries caught fire, producing heavy smoke for 12 hours and triggering a shelter-in-place order. The year before, Toronto Fire Services reported 55 lithium-ion battery fires, up from 29 in 2022. In New York City, 267 battery-related fires caused 18 deaths and over 150 injuries in 2023 alone, largely from e-bikes and e-scooters. The crisis led NYC lawmakers to mandate compliance with UL and EN testing standards. 

Health Canada has also taken note, adding lithium-ion battery products to its 2024 watchlist for potential health and safety risks. The department now endorses CSA and UL standards for battery performance and safety. 

Legacy hazards meet new tech

While vehicles and mobility devices move towards electric power, old-fashioned propane, CO2 and other compressed gases remain real threats. The concern is that new waste streams are growing while industry still hasn’t mastered the waste streams of old, such as all those cans of paint in the back storage room, or bins of plain old AA and AAA batteries. 

As Sanborn spoke at a SWANA webinar, presenters shared explosion video clips, from waste collection workers unknowingly throwing oxygen tanks placed at the curb to be crushed in the back of the garbage truck, to recycling workers narrowly being spared injury when semi-full propane/butane cylinders make their way down the conveyor belt.  

“Even a small amount of propane can cause a significant explosion,” says Jennifer Heaton-Jones, executive director at Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority in Connecticut. 

Waste management has long ranked among the most dangerous occupations in North America. The complexity of waste is growing, with businesses often caught in unusual situations. Take the hospitality industry, says Sanborn, telling a story of a group of hotel party guests who left a room littered with nitrous oxide cylinders used as recreational drugs.  

“They don’t want it tracked,” Sanborn says of the partygoers, who adds that hazardous waste can easily end up in the waste management stream because people don’t want to be viewed with suspicion. Or perhaps the hotel cleaning staff doesn’t know what the cylinders are and fail to take adequate measures.  

To aid battery sorters and handlers in identifying lithium batteries, Battery Council International has even created a lithium battery training toolkit designed to be incorporated into companies’ onboarding programs and learning management systems. The toolkit includes a video, poster and flyer, each developed to aid battery sorters and handlers in identifying lithium batteries.  

Toronto-based Li-Cycle once promised to be part of the solution, with a closed-loop process to extract battery-grade materials from used lithium-ion batteries. But the company’s future is now uncertain: recently delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, it is now under creditor protection in Canada and the U.S.  

Its Rochester Hub, once expected to process up to 35,000 tonnes of shredded “black mass” from expired lithium-ion batteries annually, remains in limbo. It could also produce up to 8,250 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate and up to 72,000 tonnes of mixed hydroxide precipitate annually.  

Illegal dumping and consumer apathy 

As waste disposal fees rise, illegal dumping persists. Tens of thousands of small propane tanks are left behind at campgrounds each year. A 2023 University of Waterloo study found Canadians had generated enough e-waste over the past two decades to fill the CN Tower more than 110 times. 

Canada’s EPR system allows (and in some cases mandates) environmental handling fees (EHFs) to be built into product pricing. Companies either set their own fees or work with stewardship organizations. In most provinces, EHFs are under 10 cents for small lithium-ion batteries but can approach $10 for e-bike or scooter batteries. 

Despite the framework, progress remains slow and fragmented. Ontario’s system has proven especially difficult to navigate. In April of this year, the province’s Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) issued major fines: $1 million each to Duracell and Energizer, and $781,725 to Panasonic. 

“We are disappointed with the regulator’s decision,” Call2Recycle Canada, the non-profit organization responsible for recycling batteries on the companies’ behalf, told ES&E Magazine. “The three battery producers are actively moving towards appealing the RPRA’s decision, which is viewed as punitive and unwarranted.” 

The producers missed Ontario’s 40% recycling target in 2023, achieving an average of just 19%. Some argue the shortfall is due more to a lack of public participation than industry negligence. 

The companies are appealing the fines, claiming Ontario’s rules are flawed and evolving too quickly. But the RPRA defended its actions: “The fact that the government recently revised management targets and combined the targets for primary and rechargeable batteries is not evidence in itself that the target for primary batteries in effect for the 2023 year was unattainable or unfair,” the regulator stated in its administrative penalty order.  

What’s next for Canada? 

Despite the setbacks, there are signs of momentum. Call2Recycle Canada, which in 2024 alone collected over 6.8 million kilograms of batteries nationwide through 15,000 collection sites, has launched battery collection in Alberta as of April 2025 under the oversight of the Alberta Recycling Management Authority (ARMA). This means that like Ontario, Alberta’s EPR legislation will require battery producers to keep at least 40% of all household batteries out of landfill by 2027.  

Recently, Call2Recycle Canada partnered with circular solutions provider RLG to advance battery collection safety through a lithium-ion safety box called LiSa. The box is designed for shipping and storing damaged, defective or recalled lithium-ion batteries. It uses technology that suppresses fire in the event of a thermal runaway reaction, also limiting noxious gases and releasing harmless water vapour. 

If the lithium-ion industry could use a battery success story, the Canadian Battery Association (CBA) has one with its focus on lead batteries — the type used in combustion engine vehicles. On average, a new lead battery consists of over 80% recycled material. One of the keys to the success of customers returning lead batteries is that they get a deposit back in the neighborhood of $10.  

That incentive to return, however, isn’t quite as strong when it comes to the likes of AA and AAA single-use batteries that led to fines in Ontario. “Because they’re small and not expensive, they’re not incentivized to bring it back,” CBA Executive Director Jacomien van Tonder, based in B.C., told ES&E Magazine.  

At its recent annual general meeting in April, van Tonder said there was interest in expanding focus to include lithium-ion batteries and a new working group will investigate the potential for such a shift. As far as where in Canada will be first to develop a lithium-ion EPR program, van Tonder says B.C. is the most likely jurisdiction.  

Meanwhile, the Toronto-based Circular Innovation Council has compiled a directory of over 500 businesses and events across York, Peel, and Durham Regions to help residents share, reuse, and repair everyday items, including electronics. 

SWANA’s new working group has a wish list for lithium-ion battery management. They want producers to stop adding new products to the market that pose a danger of fire or explosion if no end-of-life plan exists; consider recyclability during product design; ensure batteries can be safely removed from products; provide clear disposal instructions to prevent disposal in household waste or recycling; and establish collection and disposal systems funding to manage these hazardous products properly.   

As regulators, recyclers, and producers scramble to catch up with soaring battery use, the path forward demands stronger enforcement, smarter design, and more widespread public education — before the next spark sets off. 

David Nesseth is with ES&E Magazine. 

Email: david@esemag.com