UK waste and battery fire statistics 2026

Key UK battery fire figures

These are the most recent published figures on battery fires in the UK waste system, each with the period it covers and a link to the original source. They come from different organisations counting different things, so read the scope before comparing them.

This page is about batteries. For fire and rescue service figures on all industrial waste fires in England, the Environment Agency rules and other general waste fire facts, see our waste fire facts and sources page. For why batteries ignite on site and how operators manage them, see lithium-ion battery fires at waste sites.

1,518 fires at ESA member sites in the year to March 2026

The Environmental Services Association, the trade body for UK waste management companies, said its members reported 1,518 fires in the year to March 2026. At least 541 of those were directly attributed to lithium-ion batteries, and members reported a further 216 battery fires in bin lorries. The figures were shared with the Guardian, which reported that battery fires at recycling centres are happening at a rate of more than 10 a week.

The ESA says the attributed number understates the problem, because in most incidents the cause of a fire cannot be established once it has burned. Its spokesperson said: "We know 40% of fires at recycling centres are caused by batteries, but we think the actual number is more like 70%."

Source: The Guardian, 22 August 2026, reporting ESA figures.

Read the chart with care. The 2022 and 2023-24 bars come from Material Focus research with local authorities, published by the National Fire Chiefs Council, and count battery fires only, in bin lorries and at waste sites. The 2025-26 bar is the ESA's count of all fires at its members' sites, whatever the cause. The direction is clear, and battery fires are not falling, but the three bars are not a single like-for-like series.

Over 1,200 battery fires in 2023-24, up 71% on 2022

In May 2024 the NFCC reported over 1,200 battery fires in bin lorries and at waste sites across the UK in the previous 12 months, up 71% from about 700 in 2022.

The figures came from Material Focus research with local authorities. The same release described a single fire at a waste site in Herne Hill, south London, that took 5 hours to bring under control, burned for 4 days and needed 15 fire engines and around 100 firefighters. It also reported that Zurich UK had seen some insurance claims for battery waste fires of up to £20 million.

Source: NFCC, 10 May 2024. The ESA's September 2025 policy briefing repeats the figure of more than 1,200 fires in 2023-24 and the 71% rise: ESA, 15 September 2025.

The battery share of waste fires has grown since 2016

ESA records show the share of its members' fires linked to lithium-ion batteries rising from 21% in 2016-17 to 38% in 2019-20, when members recorded 670 fires.

In the 2019-20 figures, a fire counted if it was recorded as caused by a lithium-ion battery or suspected to have been. The shares in the three earlier years were 21% in 2016-17, 25% in 2017-18 and 22% in 2018-19. The same research, by Eunomia with the ESA, estimated that lithium-ion batteries were behind around 48% of all UK waste fires, about 201 fires a year, and that 97% of respondents to its survey saw battery waste fires as a problem, with 55% calling them a significant problem.

The 2025-26 bar is our calculation from the ESA's published totals: 541 directly attributed battery fires out of 1,518 fires is about 36%. It counts confirmed attributions only, while the earlier years include suspected cases, which is one reason the ESA's own estimate is higher.

Sources: NFCC, 13 January 2021, reporting Eunomia and ESA research; The Guardian, 22 August 2026.

Waste fires cost an estimated £1,048 million in 2023

Eunomia's February 2025 report for the ESA estimates the 2023 cost of waste fires at £1,048 million. Its 2021 study put the cost of lithium-ion battery waste fires at £158 million a year.

The ESA summarises the change as a rise from around £150 million a year in 2021 to over £1 billion today. Insurance is part of the picture too: the BBC reported in May 2026 that waste operator FCC Environment said sites were getting harder to insure.

Sources: Eunomia for the ESA, February 2025 (PDF); NFCC, 13 January 2021; ESA, 15 September 2025; BBC News, 20 May 2026.

1.6 billion batteries discarded in 2023

Eunomia estimates that 1.6 billion batteries were discarded in the UK in 2023, 1.1 billion of them hidden inside devices. That is more than 3,000 a minute, the rate the NFCC quotes.

Consumer research for Material Focus found that over 1.1 billion electricals containing batteries and 449.9 million loose batteries were binned in a year, including 260 million vapes. Only 100 of the UK's 391 local authorities offer kerbside collection of small electricals, according to the Eunomia report.

Vapes get particular attention. In a test the ESA commissioned from the Health and Safety Executive, a punctured vape battery reached more than 750C and was hot enough to set paper alight. The ESA is calling for a deposit scheme on vapes, and more widely for producer-funded kerbside collection of batteries and small electricals.

Sources: Eunomia for the ESA, February 2025 (PDF); NFCC, 10 May 2024; ESA, 15 September 2025; The Guardian, 22 August 2026.

370 suspected battery fires at one large operator in 2025

Individual operators see the same pattern. Veolia, one of the UK's largest waste companies, told the BBC there were 370 fires across its sites and vehicles in 2025 where a battery was the suspected cause.

The same BBC report quoted FCC Environment saying waste sites were becoming harder to insure. Single-operator figures like these are not part of the ESA totals above and should not be added to them.

Source: BBC News, 20 May 2026.

What the Environment Agency expects on detection

For permitted waste sites in England, the Environment Agency's fire prevention plan guidance says appropriate automated detection systems may include CCTV visual flame detection systems.

The guidance asks that the design, installation and maintenance of detection and suppression systems are covered by a third-party certification scheme, such as one accredited by UKAS, or meet a recognised standard such as a British Standard, with evidence provided. Under arson and security, it lists measures such as fencing, intruder alarms and CCTV. Our fire prevention plan checklist walks through the guidance section by section.

Source: Environment Agency fire prevention plan guidance.

What this means for site operators

If more than a third of recorded fires are already being traced to batteries, every site handling mixed waste, recyclables or small electricals should assume batteries are arriving in its loads, and plan to spot a fire early.

• Know where batteries end upTipping halls, small electricals bays, quarantine cages, bale stores and the bay where collection lorries tip. Map them in your fire prevention plan.
• Watch the hours nobody is thereSmouldering material can take hours to show smoke, often after the site has closed. Cover stockpiles and bale stores through the night.
• Get the clip to the right personAn alert is only useful if someone sees it and acts. Send it with the clip to the people on call, by app and email.
• Keep the fire alarm, add eyesVideo smoke detection supports a life-safety fire alarm; it does not replace one. It adds cover where detectors cannot reach, such as yards and open bays.

Woodcock AI adds smoke and fire detection to existing CCTV, so the cameras already watching a yard can raise an alert when smoke or flame appears in the areas you outline. Alerts go out by app, as a push notification with the clip, and by email; alerts to a monitoring centre (ARC) and phone-call alerts are available as optional add-ons. Each camera's model is fitted to its own scene, which matters on waste sites where dust, steam and headlights are part of the normal view. For how this applies to materials recovery facilities, see AI early fire detection for recycling plants.

How we compiled these figures

Every figure on this page was checked against the source linked beside it on 26 October 2026. Where two sources describe the same thing in different words, we quote each as published. For example, the ESA describes 2021 costs as around £150 million a year, while the underlying Eunomia study gives £158 million. Where sources disagree on a number, we use the figure from the most detailed report: Eunomia's 1.6 billion batteries discarded in 2023 rather than rounded campaign figures. We have not added up figures that use different scopes.

1. The Guardian, 22 August 2026: ESA figures shared with the Guardian
2. NFCC, 10 May 2024: Over 1,200 battery fires in bin lorries and waste sites across the UK in last year
3. ESA, 15 September 2025: battery fire policy briefing
4. Eunomia for ESA, February 2025: Financial impact of small WEEE and battery collections (PDF)
5. NFCC, 13 January 2021: Lithium-ion battery waste fires costing UK over £100m a year (Eunomia and ESA research)
6. BBC News, 20 May 2026: battery fires at waste sites
7. Environment Agency: Fire prevention plans, environmental permits
8. Woodcock AI waste fire facts: MHCLG fire statistics for industrial waste fires in England