Fire closes recycling centre in Lincolnshire as council issues warning

A household waste recycling centre in Lincolnshire had to close for several hours on Monday after a fire broke out in the general waste container.

Crews from Spalding and Boston fire stations attended the blaze at Spalding Recycling Centre shortly after 11am, which was thought to have been caused by a car battery being dumped in the general waste area on the site.

A spokesperson for Lincolnshire County Council, which runs the site, said: “It has prompted to council to reissue its warning to residents that batteries and electricals cannot be discarded in bins – either at home or at a recycling centre – and need to be recycled with other electricals in the appropriate separate containers on site.

Coun Daniel McNally, executive member for waste and recycling at Lincolnshire County Council, explained: “Whether it goes into your bins at home, or to a Household Waste Recycling Centre, waste is compacted a number of times on its journey to its final destination, and it’s at these points where electrical items that have been disposed of incorrectly can spark and start a fire.

“This incident at Spalding is the latest in a line of fires caused by electrical items in the wrong place. We’ve seen fires in bin lorries and even fires at our contractors’ processing plants; it needs to stop.

“Putting electrical items and batteries in bins puts waste workers at risk. You’ll find recycling points for batteries and electrical items of all types and sizes at each of our household waste recycling centres. You can also recycle batteries at most supermarkets”.

Spalding Household Waste Recycling Centre reopened at around 2pm on Monday 5 February, and is now open as normal.

If you’re in doubt about how and where you can recycle items in Lincolnshire, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/waste.