{"id":161741,"date":"2025-12-01T04:00:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T04:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/161741\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T04:00:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T04:00:10","slug":"they-ignite-in-the-garbage-truck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/161741\/","title":{"rendered":"‘They ignite in the garbage truck’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Incorrect battery disposal, likely from products such as vape pens, recently led to three fires in three weeks at the Vermillion landfill in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Keloland News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What’s happening?<\/p>\n

Vermillion Fire Chief Matt Callahan is the expert who identified rechargeable batteries as the main culprits behind three small fires at the Vermillion landfill this month.<\/p>\n

The fires were put out before they could cause any injuries or significant damage. But the city’s Solid Waste Director, Tim Taggart, told<\/a> Keloland News that it could easily have gone the other way.<\/p>\n

“We were lucky enough to catch them fast enough before they got out of hand,” he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Why is it important to dispose of lithium-ion batteries correctly?<\/p>\n

Most rechargeable products, and even some disposable electronic items like vapes, have lithium-ion batteries. These batteries are chosen for their efficiency and their ability to be recharged again and again without losing potency.<\/p>\n

However, when they are damaged or worn out, lithium-ion batteries can become a fire hazard. While they’re safe to use according to the manufacturer’s instructions, they must be disposed of correctly at the end of their lifespan.<\/p>\n

“A lot of what we’re seeing at the landfill is the vape pens, those are being thrown into the regular garbage,” Callahan told<\/a> Keloland News. “They’re then compressed or they make contact and they ignite in the garbage truck, or once they’re in the landfill and dumped then they spark a fire.”<\/p>\n

It’s bad enough that vapes impact their users’ health. Young people especially can become addicted to nicotine and other substances through this habit.<\/p>\n

The products are bad for the environment as well. People leave them as litter on the ground, and the vapes themselves generate a lot of e-waste. The fact that they lead to dangerous, noxious trash fires doesn’t help.<\/p>\n

“Any fire of that sort can become significant, especially at a landfill, or could be worse, it could be in the garbage truck because it’s transporting it or in someone’s home,” Callahan added<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How can I prevent future trash fires?<\/p>\n

Callahan instructed<\/a> the public that lithium-ion batteries should only be disposed of at a properly-equipped recycling center, per Keloland News.<\/p>\n

In Sioux Falls, there is a yearly collection event for hazardous materials, including lithium-ion batteries, at the Vermillion landfill. The recycling center in town also accepts these batteries at other times.<\/p>\n

In other locations, you can check with your local recycling center<\/a> to determine if they take this type of e-waste. Local businesses<\/a> may accept lithium-ion batteries for recycling.<\/p>\n

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Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices \u2014 and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD’s exclusive Rewards Club<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Incorrect battery disposal, likely from products such as vape pens, recently led to three fires in three weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,97271,85,46,97269,97274,19650,97270,97272,141,75707,30210,97273],"class_list":{"0":"post-161741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-garbage-truck","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-keloland-news","13":"tag-landfill","14":"tag-lithium-ion-batteries","15":"tag-matt-callahan","16":"tag-rechargeable-batteries","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-sioux-falls","19":"tag-south-dakota","20":"tag-vermillion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}