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An old household battery disposed of incorrectly in a kerbside bin can set a rubbish truck or an entire facility up in flames. This goes for whether the battery is loose, in an old smart phone, toy or remote control.
Unfortunately, we’ve been seeing this happening lately due to community members incorrectly disposing of hazardous waste in their kerbside bins.
Household hazardous waste includes a broad range of products that are flammable, toxic, explosive or corrosive. A substance is hazardous if:
- It can catch fire.
- React or explode when mixed with other substances.
- Releases dangerous vapours.
- Is corrosive or toxic.
The following items commonly cause a fire if incorrectly disposed of:
- All kinds of batteries, flat or not (i.e. household batteries, car, phone, laptop, power tool, camera, vaping devices).
- Aerosol cans that are not empty.
- Household chemicals.
- Gas bottles/butane cans.
- Flares.
These types of items should not be placed in your kerbside waste bins but taken to your closest drop-off point.
Disposing of hazardous waste correctly will not only protect our environment, but our community, the people who collect our kerbside bins, those sorting our recycling and working at our landfills.
We’ve listed local drop-offs below to help you correctly dispose of your hazardous waste:mornpen.vic.gov.au/hazardouswaste |