Lithium batteries are the small however highly effective cells present in the whole lot from key fobs and TV remotes to watches and youngsters’s toys.
Brits have been warned to verify their pockets (Picture: Getty)
Brits have been warned that one thing they preserve of their pockets may destroy their washing machines and begin home fires. Lithium batteries are the small however highly effective cells present in the whole lot from key fobs and TV remotes to watches and youngsters’s toys.
They’re ending up in washing machines at an alarming price, and the results vary from ruined home equipment to deal with fires. A single coin cell battery, the sort offered two for £1 in Poundland and located in hundreds of thousands of jacket pockets on daily basis, accommodates sufficient energy to trigger critical injury the second it goes by way of a wash cycle.
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Lithium batteries can injury machines and trigger fires (Picture: Getty)
Because the Authorities’s ban on single-use disposable vapes got here into power in June 2025, 5.5 million adults who vape within the UK use a chargeable system — a compact, pocket-sized package containing a lithium-ion battery that’s considerably extra highly effective than the cells present in on a regular basis family devices.
Regardless of the ban, greater than 6.3 million vapes are nonetheless thrown away each week within the UK, based on Materials Focus analysis, and a rising quantity are ending up not in bins however in washing machines, left forgotten within the pockets of denims, hoodies and work jackets.
If a vape or battery goes by way of the machine and exhibits any indicators of harm afterwards – swelling, uncommon warmth, unusual smells, or leaking – don’t use it once more.
Place it in a non-flammable container, take it exterior, and get it to a chosen recycling level as quickly as doable. Vapes and batteries may be dropped off at supermarkets, vape retailers and family waste recycling centres.
It is usually value ensuring your private home has working smoke alarms on each flooring — if a battery fireplace does begin, early detection could make the distinction between a broken equipment and a destroyed dwelling.
Even when a battery within the wash doesn’t begin a hearth, the associated fee to the equipment may be monumental. When a vape or battery is crushed inside a drum, the steel casing can turn into a projectile, scuffing or denting the drum itself.
Plastic fragments shed from cracked parts can jam the pump or block the drain, whereas leaked e-liquid clogs filters, leaves oily stains on materials and lingers in seals — inflicting persistent smells and eventual breakdown lengthy after the preliminary incident.
Restore call-outs sometimes price between £65 and £100, however main injury to the drum, pump or electronics can write off the equipment completely. The common washer within the UK prices round £389, whereas premium fashions can attain virtually £1,000.
Battery fires in UK waste streams jumped 71% to greater than 1,200 in 2024, in contrast with 700 in 2022, with lithium batteries from vapes and different gadgets recognized as the first trigger.
Waste administration firm Veolia now experiences roughly one fireplace per day throughout its autos and waste centres, a pattern that has persevered for round 4 years and is instantly attributed to lithium batteries getting into the waste stream.
Lancashire Hearth and Rescue Service alone responded to 74 vape-related fireplace call-outs between 2020 and 2024, with incidents leaping from simply 4 in 2020 to 29 in 2024 — a 625% improve.
Shane Margereson, vaping security knowledgeable at Ecigone, stated: “Earlier than each wash, flip each pocket inside out — denims, hoodies, faculty baggage, work jackets, something worn or carried through the day.”
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