A SCOTTISH council has issued a warning to residents of Perth and Kinross after a disposed vape caused a major blaze at a recycling centre.
Emergency services attended a fire at the industrial unit on Friarton Road shortly after midday on Sunday, May 19.
It took four appliances and a high reach vehicle to get the fire under control although there were no injuries.
Almost seven weeks later, Perth and Kinross Council has revealed the cause of the large-scale fire was due to a vape combusting when it was crushed.
The devices – which contain lithium batteries – can overheat if they are not recycled properly.
Perth and Kinross Council has now taken to social media to urge residents to dispose of electricals properly.
A statement said: “This blaze at the Council’s Friarton Depot was caused by a lithium-ion battery as they can combust when crushed.
“Luckily this time nobody was hurt. Please dispose of your electricals in the correct way to reduce the risk of fires.”
The official advice on disposing vapes from the council is as follows:
- Small electricals should be placed in the ‘small electrical appliances’ skip at any recycling centre. If you can take out the battery from the appliance by hand, please take it out and place it in the battery barrel next to the skip
- Do not place any electrical items with a lithium-ion battery in the scrap metal skip. They should only be placed in the 'small electrical appliances’ skip
- Vapes should be recycled in the vapes container at any recycling centre or at any shop that sells vapes
- Household batteries should be recycled in the household batteries container at any recycling centre or at any shop that sells batteries
According to figures from Zero Waste Scotland, an estimated 26 million disposable vapes were thrown away in Scotland in the last year – with more than half of these being disposed of incorrectly.
