Ernie Clark. Hilperton Division, Wiltshire Council.

....following fire incidents

Wiltshire Council is urging residents not to put batteries in any bin after three fires occurred in the past fortnight at sites in Warminster, Stanton St Quintin and Lower Compton.

Batteries or electrical items containing batteries must never be put in any bin including household bins and recycling containers at Household Recycling Centres (HRCs). When waste or recycling is collected, any batteries in the items are likely to be squashed, compacted, punctured, shredded or soaked in liquids. All these processes increase the risk of fire or explosion, which threatens the safety of waste management staff and members of the public using HRCs.

Batteries and electricals containing batteries can be easily recycled by:

• using the designated battery collection point at HRCs
• using the council's kerbside Battery collection service; residents can place their unwanted batteries in a sealed clear sandwich bag on top of their blue-lidded bin or beside their blue recycling sack
• if residents can't safely remove a battery from a product, they should be recycled together in the designated electrical bin at a HRC or by using the kerbside Small electricals collections; people can put out electricals smaller than a shoe box beside their blue-lidded bin or recycling sack in a supermarket carrier bag on collection day