A second battery fire in just over a week at a local resource recovery facility has sparked an urgent plea for residents to remove batteries from all items they discard.
The latest fire – the third this year – broke out in the steel recycling area of Noosa Council’s Doonan Resource Recovery Centre.
It’s the same area where just over a week ago fire crews were called to extinguish a large blaze in the early hours of the morning, also believed to have been started by a battery left inside a discarded item.
While Wednesday’s fire was small and quickly contained, batteries pose significant fire risk and potential for serious harm.
Old batteries are free to drop-off at the Eumundi Noosa Road Resource Recovery Centre.
Council reminded waste facility customers to notify staff of all batteries they’re dropping off, and any items that have embedded batteries so they can be disposed of correctly.
Want more free local news? Follow Sunshine Coast News on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up for our FREE daily news email.
Where customers can’t remove a battery from an item they’re throwing away, such as a power tool or old e-scooters or e-bike, the whole item should be handed to waste facility staff for safe disposal.
Similarly, batteries should never be discarded in household waste bins as they have the potential to cause waste truck fires.
Drop batteries off, free of charge, at Council’s Resource Recovery Centre, 561 Eumundi Noosa Road, Doonan, as well as at the Waste Transfer Stations in Pomona and Cooroy. Simply declare on arrival that you have batteries for disposal.
For more on safe waste disposal and advice on what can and can’t be recycled, visit Council’s website.
