Lithium Ion Battery Disposal

DPW: Lithium Ion Battery Disposal Warning

What are lithium-ion batteries and why are they causing fires?

Lithium Ion batteries, the type that power electric bikes, scooters and many other products, MUST NOT BE THROWN OUT WITH REGULAR TRASH.

These batteries are also used in common items like laptops, tablets and phones. These products have a tendency to overheat and can spontaneously combust when charging.

Lithium ion and lithium- metal cells are known to undergo a process called thermal runaway during failure conditions.

Thermal runaway results in a rapid increase of battery cell temperature and pressure, accompanied by the release of flammable gas.

No car, boat, wet cell, rechargeable, Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-ion), Nickel Zinc (Ni-Zn), & small-sealed lead (SSLA-PB) example: watch, cell phone, power tools & camera batteries should be disposed in the trash. The above listed batteries can be brought to the Public Works Building at 56 Robbinsville-Allentown Rd. When in doubt, please call DPW at (609) 259-0422.

One of these batteries recently exploded inside the cargo bay of one of our Township trucks and resulted in a fire, forcing an emergency off-load.

A nearly identical incident was narrowly avoided on June 13, 2023, but workers were able to remove the battery and put the fire out without the emergency off-load.

Throwing these batteries in your regular trash, even if they no longer power your device, is extremely dangerous. As a reminder, bring these items to DPW for proper disposal.

-RT-