> Veolia records one preventable fire a day from residents putting dangerous items in bins

> The campaign aims to raise awareness of the danger real people face from vehicle and facility fires

 

> Residents should not put vapes, electrical items, batteries, or gas canisters in the bin as they are extremely flammable when crushed

 

> Veolia carries out around 17 million collections a year in Haringey

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Veolia, the UK’s leading resource management company, has launched a UK-wide campaign to combat a rise in fires, that has reached on average, one preventable fire every day, including in Haringey where Veolia delivers essential waste collection and street cleansing services.

The campaign aims to educate on the dangers of certain waste items that put residents and staff in danger, as well as cause damage to vital recycling infrastructure.

The fires occur across the country in Refuse Collection Vehicles (RCVs) in residential areas and in waste management facilities, due to dangerous items placed in residential recycling or rubbish bins and on-street litter bins. This puts both Veolia staff and the general public in direct danger.

The campaign videos, published across social media, contain real footage of the fires and explosions caused and focus on the danger of four items that are commonly misplaced in household bins and how they can impact the people who collect, sort, and process waste.

• Used vapes should be taken back to retailers, or recycled via specialist services which can be found at haringey.gov.uk/recycle-electricals 
• Electrical items - items with batteries, plugs, cables, or hidden batteries such as those found in children’s toys and electrical toothbrushes - can be recycled via Veolia and Haringey Council’s small electricals collection service, bookable at wastecollections.haringey.gov.uk 
• Batteries can be easily recycled at dedicated recycling points, which can be found at recyclenow.com/recycling-locator
• Gas bottles and nitrous oxide (Nox) canisters need to be handled safely during disposal. Residents needing to dispose of gas bottles or canisters can take them to the Western Road Recycling Centre in Wood Green 
  
   

Vapes, electrical items, batteries, and gas canisters become extremely flammable when they are crushed. This puts both collection crews and the staff at recycling and waste sorting and processing facilities at risk of burns, chemical exposure and smoke inhalation - injuries that can be life-changing. It also causes damage to vital recycling infrastructure.

Residents can visit veolia.co.uk/dangerous-waste to watch real footage of what happens when dangerous items enter the waste stream and learn more about how to safely dispose of these materials.

 

 

Cory Reynolds, Director of Corporate Affairs, Veolia UK, Northern Europe Zone, said:  “At Veolia we pride ourselves on carrying out essential services whilst putting safety first in the workplace, and we do not accept our people or the communities we serve being put in danger. This campaign is necessary to educate residents on how to ensure their waste is safe, and we ask everyone to make these simple changes that will greatly decrease the chance of fires in collection vehicles and sorting facilities. This will have a huge impact on keeping the vital industry we work in safe and ensure that the people that handle waste are kept out of harm’s way whilst protecting the valuable materials residents work hard to separate for recycling.”

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ABOUT VEOLIA

 

Veolia's ambition is to become the benchmark company for ecological transformation. With nearly 218,000 employees on five continents, the Group designs and deploys useful, practical solutions for managing water, waste and energy that help to radically change the world. Through its three complementary activities, Veolia contributes to developing access to resources, preserving available resources and renewing them. In 2023, the Veolia group served 113 million people with drinking water and 103 million with wastewater services, produced 42 terawatt-hours of energy and recovered 63 million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (Paris Euronext: VIE) generated consolidated sales of €45.3 billion in 2023. www.veolia.com