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Lithium batteries banned from library recycling bins
Facilities will continue to collect other types of household batteries
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County Solid Waste Policy Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to ban lithium batteries from battery-recycling collection bins in the county’s public libraries because of the explosion and fire hazard they pose when they discharge rapidly and overheat.
Other types of household batteries, including alkaline, zinc-carbon, nickel metal hydride, nickel-cadmium and small, sealed lead-acid batteries, will continue to be accepted in the library bins, where they have been collected for more than a decade, said Lou Vega, county recycling director.
“We’ve had a relationship for well over a decade without incident” with the libraries, Vega said.
Signs will be posted in libraries reflecting the new policy, Vega said.
Because of the potential hazard, county Commissioner Carol Rimedio-Righetti told the committee she was uncomfortable with lithium batteries being collected in libraries and stored in bulk and sorted in the Oakhill Renaissance Place basement, awaiting shipment to a battery-recycling company.
“I have a real problem with something that’s flammable that’s in this building,” Rimedio-Righetti said during the meeting at Oakhill, where the recycling division is based. “Having that in a library is just as bad as having that in our basement,” she added.
“I would rather have a drive and have it out of the building in an open-air spot, and then have whoever’s going to take that take it completely away from us,” Rimedio-Righetti said.
“The last thing I would want is to be responsible for the burning of Oak- hill,” Vega told the committee, adding that the libraries “are full of flammable books.”
Lithium batteries are used in cellphones, laptop computers, drones, hoverboards and many other devices, Vega said.
The recycling division intends to continue to collect lithium batteries at special events, Vega said.
Some local retail stores and scrap dealers accept lithium batteries all year.
Vega said his recommendation that the committee impose the ban, effective immediately, stems from a large lithium battery fire late last year at a Grove City, Pa., recycling center.
“It burns so hot that it causes the other batteries around it to also catch fire,” he said of a burning lithium battery.
“It burns so hot that modern fire suppression equipment doesn’t put it out.”
“We’re just trying to minimize the risk. The risk is low, but there’s a risk, and since we’re handling it in bulk, our percentage of risk is greater, as opposed to you just having a cellphone in your pocket,” Vega said of the county recycling division.
“The library has stopped taking lithium batteries in Green Team [county recycling division] collection containers, effectively immediately. Other types of batteries will still be collected. We understand this is a safety precaution by the Green Team, and safety is also our No. 1 priority,” said Janet Loew, communications and public relations director for the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County.