Quebec’s sorting centers are grappling with an explosive problem: more and more lithium-ion batteries are mixed with the contents of the blue bins they receive. Over the past two years, fires caused by these unwanted objects have increased. And the damage, sometimes major, jeopardizes the entire recycling chain.
An example ? At the beginning of May, a fire raged in a VIA sorting center in Rivière-du-Loup. “There were flames of almost six feet, it was a good blaze,” says Emmanuelle Tremblay, spokesperson for this non-profit organization. Firefighters were called and personnel were evacuated. After the fire, it took a few hours to clear the smoke and restart the plant.
Over the past year, about ten fires have broken out in each of VIA’s five sorting centres. Fortunately, there were no injuries. These fires varied in size, but all required suspension of triage, which involves costly delays. In the largest sorting centers of the NPO, those of Lachine and Quebec, the losses amount to approximately $6,000 per hour of stoppage.
The Tricentris organization has reported two serious fires in the past year. Both occurred at its Gatineau sorting center. On April 13, a lithium-ion battery ignited a fire in the receiving area, where a tractor pushes recyclable material to a conveyor. Equipment was damaged. Damage amounted to $70,000.
The other incident, which occurred on 1er last July, was even more devastating. This was triggered by a battery in a bale freshly compacted by a press. The flames spread to a tractor next door: a “total loss”, according to Grégory Pratte, public affairs manager at Tricentris. Other equipment was affected. Losses were calculated at $500,000.
The main cause of the fires
Lithium-ion batteries are found in mobile phones, laptops, cordless drills, vapers, etc. Obviously, these objects are more and more numerous — and, at the end of their life, they do not always end up in the appropriate place. When batteries are rubbed, crushed or heated by equipment in sorting centers, or even in recovery trucks, they catch fire.
“It’s like putting a butane lighter in a blue bin. It’s sure to light up,” explains Robin Dignard, fire prevention trainer and lieutenant with the Longueuil agglomeration fire safety service. Mr. Dignard was appointed in 2021 by the recycling company Ricova to analyze and curb the problem of fires in its sorting centers.
In November 2021, a major fire broke out in the Lachine sorting center, then operated by Ricova. Seventy firefighters were mobilized for nearly half a day. The sorting center was forced to shut down for more than a week. Lithium-ion batteries were involved.
“The statistics are the same everywhere: 90% of fires [dans les centres de tri] are caused by lithium batteries,” says Mr. Dignard, who inquired about the situation with several recycling players in Quebec as part of his mandate with Ricova.
At his client, he counted 17 fires in 2021. In 2022, the company recorded nine. Ricova was unable to tell the Duty the value of the damage.
Remember that Ricova, responsible until recently for the management of two sorting centers in Montreal, has been on the City’s “black list” since last year due to shortcomings identified by the Inspector General. His contract in Lachine was terminated in September 2022; the one in Saint-Michel will end in 2024. It also operates a sorting center in Châteauguay.
Drop off where it belongs
Lithium-ion batteries that catch fire fly around like fireworks. Spraying them with water is useless: you have to wait for them to exhaust their fuel. However, it is essential to fight the hearth to prevent the flames from spreading to paper, cardboard and plastic. In sorting centers, most fires are put out by employees, not firefighters.
Fires caused by lithium-ion batteries are “an ongoing concern” and for about two years have been much more frequent than before, says Ms.me Tremblay, of the VIA Company. “There’s really no solution, you have to deal with the material that comes in,” she says. Battery detectors don’t exist. It is a major problem. »
For now, VIA says it is “lucky”: its equipment has not suffered any significant damage. The social economy company, however, deplores the “human impact” of the fires on its employees – people who live with functional limitations, such as mental disabilities or autism – who must regularly evacuate the premises quickly. .
Everyone in the industry agrees: to curb the problem of fires, recovery companies cannot do much. They must rely on the citizens who, under no circumstances, should deposit a battery or a battery in the blue bin.
The Recycle my electronics (for devices) and Call to recycle (for batteries) programs offer hundreds of drop-off points in Quebec.