A binman has warned that throwing vapes and other battery-powered items into household bins can cause fires in waste collection vehicles, creating what he calls a “massive headache” for crews, residents, fire crews and councils.
Ur Nans Favourite Binman, a TikTok user with more than 2,000 followers and 13,000 likes on the platform, listed the items that should never go in general waste. “Batteries, lithium batteries, toothbrushes, portable chargers, and broken phones,” he said. “They need to be disposed of properly because they do and they can cause lorry fires. And that's a massive headache for the crew, for the residents, for the fire crews and for the council.”
What happens when a waste lorry catches fire
According to the binman, a fire in a waste vehicle can take the lorry out of service, and the waste may have to be tipped onto the floor in a safe location away from the main road. “Obviously in a safe place, that being off a main road, so down a residential street and it's just a massive headache,” he said.
His message was that a single item thrown away incorrectly can create disruption for far more people than the person who originally put it in the bin. The warning includes vapes that either do or do not still have charge. “Please, please, please guys throw them away properly even if they're dead, it still can cause fires and it does cause fires,” the binman warned.
Official guidance on vape disposal
Government guidance supports this alert, advising people not to put vapes into general waste or household recycling because of the fire risk posed by their batteries. The Office for Product Safety and Standards recommends taking used vapes to suitable take-back schemes, vape-only recycling bins, supermarkets or other recycling points.
For anyone wondering where an old vape should go, the answer can depend on the recycling facilities available locally. In Wales, for example, the Welsh Government says vapes cannot go into household waste and should be disposed of safely at household recycling centres or through an appropriate recycling point.
