Aberdeenshire Council warning over batteries after blaze breaks out at Peterhead household recycling centre
A local authority is urging residents to remove batteries from electricals before recycling them after a fire broke out at a household recycling centre.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue service attended at the Peterhead site on Thursday, February 27 to tackle the blaze which resulted in damage to the electricals container and the loss of valuable electrical items for recycling.
The recycling centre was reopened later that same day.
Fires occur when electricals containing batteries are thrown in with household waste or recycling and crushed or damaged in bin lorries and recycling centres.
They cause serious damage to the local community, put collection crews in danger, impact services and cause air pollution levels to spike in areas.
Aberdeenshire Council’s environment and sustainability head of service Ewan Wallace said: “All recycling taken to our household recycling centres is greatly appreciated.
“However, when it comes to electricals, please remove any batteries wherever possible and recycle them separately to ensure the safety of our staff and facilities.”
Household batteries can be recycled separately from other electrical waste at all recycling centres.
They can also be recycled as part of home weekly kerbside collections using freely available pink battery bags.
Residents can leave a full sealed battery bag on top of their kerbside bin being collected on any given week.
Battery bags are available for free from local household recycling centres, libraries or service points.
These should not be used to dispose of vapes — they are for household batteries only.
Specialised drums are available at all household recycling centres across Aberdeenshire to safely store vapes or e-cigarettes before they are transported to Veolia in Portsmouth for recycling, where 94 per cent of all the materials inside them can be recovered.
Electricals, if in suitable condition and with all parts and plugs, can also be donated directly to a charity or via a reuse container in Banchory, Ellon, Laurencekirk, Macduff, Stonehaven, Portlethen or Peterhead household recycling centres.
If not, they can be placed — with batteries removed — in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) container at any of the council’s recycling centres.
WEEE containers are also available at Port Elphinstone’s Davidson Park and at Insch’s leisure centre car park.
