Second Deptford fire at firm handling Lewisham's fly tipping waste

Smoke billowed into the skies on Tuesday 18 August, over 100 firefighters were sent to the scene and the word went around that the latest fire in Landmann Way was at the same site that went up in flames in June.

Although the investigation of the first fire has not reported back, it is considered most likely that both fires were caused by lithium-ion batteries getting into the waste.

Every fire is hugely damaging for health and the environment. Firefighters are exposed to risks of injury and toxic air pollution, residents in a wide area are exposed to spikes of air pollution and climate emissions rise further.

The Lewisham mayor Liam Shrivastava made many statements to residents, some with local councillors, repeatedly emphasising that SSSI is a "privately owned facility".

"We will be seeking urgent guarantees that lessons are being learned and robust safeguards are put in place to prevent another incident," he said.

What the mayor didn't say is that the firm receive and handle the council's fly tipping and bulky waste.

In June, Lewisham council paid SSSI over £142,000 for disposing of its waste.

In some months it has paid higher figures, indicating that the council is paying well over £1.5m per year for SSSI services.

A spokesperson for the council said: "We use SSSI for sorting and disposal of bulky waste and fly-tipped waste, which our teams collect and deliver directly."

Unrecyclable waste is then shipped to Kent to produce Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF), to supply to Waste to Energy contracts.

Waste mattresses are sent to Chatham, while tyres and scrap metal go to Hawkhurst for processing.

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Who is responsible for preventing battery fires at waste depots?

The Guardian recently reported on the growing number of fires at waste disposal sites believed to be caused by lithium batteries.

Isn't Lewisham council, which collects the waste, primarily responsible for extracting batteries from it?

The council confirmed that it may be delivering waste including batteries or cannisters to the firm.

A spokesperson said: "Crews are instructed to visually inspect waste prior to loading and disposal and, where reasonably practicable, remove items known to present a fire risk, including loose batteries, electrical items containing batteries and gas canisters.

"However, due to the nature of bulky waste and fly-tipped material, it is not always possible to identify all batteries or battery-powered items concealed within waste before collection or disposal."

In a statement to Salamander, which was not reflected in the communications to residents from the mayor and councillors, the spokesperson acknowledged the need for collaboration:

"The Council recognises the increasing fire risks associated with lithium-ion batteries and will continue to work with site operators and waste management contractors to ensure appropriate handling, storage and disposal arrangements are in place."

Is the advice reaching residents?

Communicating the risks of disposing of batteries and cannisters in household rubbish is a separate challenge.

The spokesperson said: "The Council promotes the availability of .. recycling points and reinforces messages that batteries and electrical items containing batteries should never be placed in household waste or recycling bins due to the significant fire risk they present when damaged or incorrectly disposed of."

But although this is a worthy aim, there is still much to be done to reach residents who will care about this and then co-operate. Collections points for batteries and disposable vapes are few and far between, and there is no advice for nitrous oxide cannisters.

Disposable vapes are now now banned, but continue to be part of the problem.

But those who are already illegally flytipping, huffing nitrous oxide or selling illegal vapes are unlikely to be swayed.

In addition to improved council communications and more collection points, it may be time to shift more responsibility for the full life-cycle of these products to producers and suppliers.

There are developed proposals for reducing plastics which have been stalled, waiting for government support. A similar "producer pays" principle for batteries, vapes and cannisters would shift more responsibility from the consumer to the producer to innovate, reduce waste or make it safe.

Lewisham's Green-led council in its circular economy work could get behind this.

In the meantime, it needs to side-step social media temptations to name and shame, and collaborate with SSSI to jointly improve their processes.

SSSI were approach for comment.

Thank you to Mark Morris for research.

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