UK battery and vape fires on pace for record year, new tracker finds

A new public tracker from UK battery waste compliance firm CellComply shows fires caused by binned batteries or vapes are occurring every nine days in 2026 and are on pace for a record year. The dataset is meant to give councils, journalists and researchers a clearer view of a waste-system risk that official statistics undercount.

Why it matters: - Fires sparked by batteries and vapes in the UK waste system can endanger crews, disrupt collections and damage recycling infrastructure. - The tracker suggests the problem is accelerating faster than official reporting shows, which matters for councils, waste operators and businesses that collect used batteries and vapes. - Material Focus and the National Fire Chiefs Council estimate more than 1,200 battery fires hit the UK waste system each year.

What happened: - CellComply published the UK Battery Fire Tracker, a public map of every reported battery- and vape-related waste fire it could verify. - The tracker has logged 88 fires in bin lorries, recycling centres and waste sites since January 2023. - Reported incidents have risen 88% between 2023 and 2025. - So far in 2026, the tracker shows 20 incidents by early July, compared with 32 in all of 2025. - The tracker says a fire caused by a binned battery or vape has been publicly reported in the UK waste system every nine days in 2026.

The details: - More than half of the incidents, 52%, started in bin lorries. - Those fires often forced crews to dump burning loads in residential streets. - Vapes are linked to 23% of the incidents and remain the single most identifiable cause, one year after the disposable vape ban. - The East of England is the worst-hit region. - A June fire at a Widnes recycling facility destroyed 450 tonnes of material and was declared a major incident. - An April blaze in Thetford led Norfolk to suspend electrical waste collections county-wide. - The tracker only counts incidents that were reported in the news or in fire service reports. - Each incident in the tracker is dated, mapped and linked to its published source. - CellComply says the tracker is free for journalists, councils and researchers under a CC BY licence. - The dataset includes a downloadable file and a link for every individual incident. - CellComply can provide local and regional breakdowns on request.

Between the lines: - The tracker fills a gap between annual national statistics and the day-to-day pace of fires. - Because it relies on public reporting, the 88 incidents likely represent a floor, not the full number of events. - Elliot Blackler, founder at CellComply, said shops and businesses that collect dead batteries and vapes are where this risk builds up and many do not realize existing rules already require safe storage and disposal.

What's next: - CellComply expects councils, journalists and researchers to use the tracker to monitor local risk and response. - If current trends continue, 2026 could become the worst year yet for reported battery and vape fires in the UK waste system. - The company is likely to keep updating the tracker as new incidents are reported. - More information is available on CellComply's website.