After dozens of battery fires throughout New York state in the past year, experts in fire prevention and recycling say consumers need to take lithium-ion battery education seriously.
“They are causing problems not just here locally but across the state,” said Michael Lutestanski, Oswego County’s director of solid waste.
Vice president of Operations for The Battery Network Eric Frederickson said 90% of New Yorkers live within 10 miles of a lithium-ion battery recycling station.
“The same thing that makes lithium-ion batteries very useful is the thing that can create the hazard and the danger,” Frederickson said. “So there’s just a lot of energy in the ion battery.”
Syracuse Fire Department Captain Erik Kaster said that, based on the makeup of the batteries, they create extended chemical fires when the separator between the positive and negative side of the battery is crushed or overheated.
“If there’s a lithium-ion battery that’s catching on fire, our hazmat team comes and removes the battery, puts it in a safe location, and observes the battery until it’s safe,” Kaster said.
Kaster said his staff has recently tended to fires caused by batteries belonging to remote control cars and e-bikes, just some of the devices that utilize the batteries.
“Being aware of the dangers is a big step towards safety,” Kaster said. “Cell phones, laptops, almost anything that uses battery power these days is a lithium-ion battery, anything from electric toothbrush to a vape pen.”
Even if the batteries are crushed underneath a soil layer, as is sometimes the case at waste transfer stations, Lutestanski said the lithium-ion batteries can ignite.
Taxpayers often bear the brunt of fire damage after municipalities pass their insurance quota. And considering environmental concerns, Lutestanski said there are multiple reasons for people to hold themselves responsible for proper battery disposal.
“We’ve got what we call e-waste [at] each transfer station and it’s free,” Lutestanski said. “You put it in a package, drop it in, and once the box is full, we ship it and it gets recycled.”
The state Department of Environmental Conservation shared a statement saying in part that Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Inter-Agency Fire Safety Working Group “developed among the most stringent battery storage fire safety standards in the nation that went into effect this past January.” The group was created in 2023.
“I think we can improve, but I think we are improving,” Lutestanski said. “So we just need to keep moving forward with educating the public.”
Multiple organizations throughout the state have resources for battery drop-offs, including OCRRA in Central New York, which offers at least four drop-off stands within 30 minutes of downtown Syracuse.