Overview
- A County Durham bin lorry caught fire in Shildon on Friday after discarded vapes and lithium batteries ignited in the vehicle, and no crew members were injured.
- Durham and Norwich councils have issued fresh warnings that disposable vapes and loose batteries must not go in general rubbish or mixed recycling.
- Authorities advise residents to bag vapes and batteries separately for collection where allowed or to use supermarket take-back points and household waste recycling centres.
- Lithium cells can overheat and ignite when crushed inside collection vehicles, causing lorries to be taken out of service and waste to be tipped away from roads for safety.
- Councils say these incidents are becoming more frequent and warn that the Stoptober campaign and a new vaping tax may raise the number of items needing safe disposal, increasing the risk of service disruption.