Seven fires over the past year at the Tauranga recycling processing centre are being put down to batteries being thrown in kerbside bins.

To protect people, facilities and the environment, residents are encouraged to use battery drop-off points provided throughout the region.

The most recent fire in early March was caused by a lithium-ion battery in a power bank incorrectly disposed of in a kerbside recycling bin. The same kind of battery is also believed to have caused the other fires.

In each case, the fires were detected quickly and caused a minimum amount of damage. Fortunately, no one was harmed.

Tauranga City and Western Bay of Plenty District Councils are reminding residents that batteries can't be disposed of in recycling or rubbish bins because of the danger they pose to people and equipment if they explode or catch fire during processing.

All batteries, from household AAs, to lithium-ion batteries commonly found in household appliances such as mobile phones, laptops, scooters, power tools and vacuum cleaners, can't go into our kerbside recycling or rubbish bins.

Hope Lawsen, Team Leader of Waste Operations and Compliance at Tauranga City Council, says lithium batteries are highly flammable under pressure and can catch fire or explode when collection trucks compress their contents.

'Even smaller household batteries such as AA, AAA and button batteries can't be recycled through our kerbside collections, or placed into kerbside rubbish bins, as they release dangerous chemicals when they break down.”

Tony Wilson, Solid Waste Contract Manager at Western Bay of Plenty District Council, says it's great that people want to do the right thing and recycle as much as possible, but it needs to be done safely.

"Our residents are eager to recycle as much as possible and that's fantastic, but batteries are a special case, and they need to be recycled carefully at a dedicated facility.

'Our priority is the safety of our community, and the team collecting and sorting our recycling. No harm should come to anyone through the collection of our district's rubbish and recycling. Please don't put any battery, no matter how big or small, into your kerbside landfill or recycling bin.”

Batteries can be recycled safely, at no cost, at the following locations:

• Te Maunga Transfer Station (next to Trustpower Baypark)
• Recycling centres in Te Puke, Katikati and Athenree
• Small household batteries can go to any Western Bay of Plenty Library and Service Centre (Te Puke, Barkes Corner, Ōmokoroa, Katikati and Waihī Beach).

Note: For Western Bay locations, household battery recycling drop-off only (i.e. doesn't include businesses or community services).

From these locations, the batteries are recycled through the free ‘e-waste' service and go on to be collected by a third-party battery recycling scheme.

Types of batteries that can be recycled for free at Council facilities:

• AAA, AA, D cell etc.
• Button batteries
• Lithium-ion batteries (found in phones, power banks, power tools, computers etc.)

Large batteries, including car batteries, can also be recycled for free at Te Maunga Transfer Station (next to Trustpower Baypark), and the recycling centres in Te Puke, Katikati and Athenree.

All kerbside recycling bins from Tauranga and Western Bay are sorted in Tauranga.