GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — There have been several fires caused by batteries at waste disposal sites in Kent County in recent months. To prevent any more, the county's public works department wants people to know how to properly dispose of their batteries.
They're looking for proper disposal of lithium-ion batteries, which can be found in several devices. These are the batteries in things like cell phones, electric toothbrushes, vapes or other similar items.
The Kent County Department of Public Works asks that you bring them to SafeChem sites, which there are five of around Kent County. You can find them in Rockford, Kentwood, Wyoming, Byron Center and Grand Rapids.
If those aren't disposed of the right way, they can cause dangerous problems for waste disposal staff.
"When lithium batteries or other lead acid batteries, cadmium batteries, when those aren't disposed of correctly, it can cause a lot of issues," says Catelyn Kikstra, waste reduction educator for the Kent County Department of Public Works. "If they enter here at the recycling center, you have a lot of fuel that could contribute to a fire from that battery."
Those fires can also be started on the road, causing trouble for drivers.
"If it's in the back of a trash truck, there could be a fire that starts and that garbage driver needs to figure out how they're going to safely, you know, get their truck off the road," says Kikstra. "So we really want to make sure they do not go in the trash and they don't go in the recycling center, but they go to a household hazardous waste disposal site."
Lithium-ion batteries do not include your standard AA or AAA batteries, which are still safe to be disposed of like you normally would.
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