Waste truck incident leads to collection delays
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An incident in which a waste collection truck nearly caught fire earlier this week has led to delays in recycling collection in some Merri-bek suburbs.
On Tuesday, a recycling collection truck began to smoulder heavily, forcing the driver to make an emergency stop on Hope Street, Brunswick to offload the contents to prevent it from being engulfed in flames.
The road was closed to traffic while the offloading took place and Fire Rescue Victoria extinguished the smouldering.
The smouldering in the collection truck was most likely caused by a resident placing a lithium-ion battery into their yellow-lidded recycling bin. Recycling trucks compress waste using a compactor, so if the truck collects and places pressure on a battery through the compactor, it can cause the battery to overheat and burst into flames.
Within a couple of hours Council cleared Hope Street of the offloaded waste. In this instance, all the contents will need to be delivered to landfill.
The team followed the correct procedures for this type of incident, and followed direction from Fire Rescue Victoria, to ensure there was no risk to the community while the waste was extinguished. Incidents like this happen from time to time, and our drivers are well-versed in how to manage them in a safe way.
However, incidents like this take time and resources to clean up and take waste collection trucks off the road, which can lead to collection delays in the following days.
While Council has several initiatives to reduce contamination in recycling waste – including regular bin inspections with feedback provided to households and waste audits to inform areas for improvement – contamination rates are still high.
Council's contracted recycling facility recovers all recyclable materials and removes items that cannot be recycled. The remaining waste is sent to landfill. Heavily contaminated recycling bins can lead to the entire truck being rejected by the recycling facility and sent to the landfill, adding to processing costs which are paid for by rates including the waste charge.
Residents can reduce the cost of waste processing, the amount sent to landfill and subsequent delays to waste collection by ensuring their household waste is sorted correctly.
Electronic waste, such as batteries, vapes and chargers, should never be placed in household bins. They are harmful to the environment and can cause fires. Council provides designated drop-off stations across Merri-bek to safely dispose of e-waste.
Merri-bek City Council Mayor Helen Davidson said smouldering or fires in waste and recycling trucks are often caused by incorrect items being put in kerbside bins, such as electronic waste like batteries or vapes.
“We can reduce the risk of this happening by disposing of waste in the correct bins, and by taking electronic waste to designated recycling stations across Merri-bek,” she said.
For more information about how to sort and dispose of household waste, visit Merri-bek City Council's guide to waste and recycling or call 9240 1111.
