Lithium Batteries: The Silent Threat in Belgium’s Waste Bins
Lithium batteries casually tossed into household waste bins have become the leading cause of fires at waste processing facilities across Belgium, prompting urgent calls from the recycling sector for government intervention. With the number of batteries on the Belgian market having more than doubled from 12 million in 2014 to 25.4 million today, the problem has escalated from an occasional hazard to a structural crisis that, according to industry leaders, now threatens the very future of recycling itself.
According to RTBF, at least 141 fires have broken out in sorting centres across Belgium since 2022 due to improperly sorted batteries. The most recent incident occurred this week at the Comet Sambre facility in Obourg, Hainaut province, where 400 tons of car carcasses burned after a suspected lithium battery ignited the pile. Residents were advised to confine themselves as thick smoke blanketed the area.
A Fatal History
The human cost of this crisis became tragically clear in July 2024, when a worker died in a fire at the Valtris sorting centre in Couillet, Charleroi. The incident, reported by RTBF, underscored the dangers faced by workers who handle waste streams contaminated with hidden batteries. Further fires at the Mont-Saint-Guibert sorting centre in August 2024 and again in August 2025 demonstrated that these were not isolated events but part of a worsening pattern.
“Hardly a day goes by without an incorrectly sorted lithium-ion battery causing a fire at a waste processing company, in a waste truck, or in a container,” Stany Vaes, General Director of Denuo, the Belgian federation of waste management and recycling companies, said in a background report published in November 2023.
Hidden Dangers in Everyday Objects
One of the most insidious aspects of the problem is that many consumers do not even realise the items they are discarding contain batteries. Musical greeting cards, disposable e-cigarettes, electric toothbrushes, light-up shoes, and wireless earbuds all contain lithium batteries that can spark devastating fires when crushed in collection trucks or processing machinery.
“The citizen doesn’t even realise the presence of batteries in everyday objects,” Laurent Dupont, President of COPIDEC (the permanent conference of Walloon inter-municipal waste management associations) and President of the Ipalle intercommunale, told RTBF. “A few years ago, on your phone, you could easily remove a battery. Now, I dare you to do it.”
Dupont highlighted the absurdity of the situation with a striking example: “The musical greeting card — you receive a cardboard card. The citizen thinks: I’ll put it in the paper and cardboard recycling. No, because that battery will end up in paper and cardboard centres and, if there’s a spark, the entire stock of paper catches fire.”
An Industry at Breaking Point
On June 12, 2026, COPIDEC and Denuo issued a joint urgent call for action, warning that the situation had become untenable. According to La Libre, the organisations declared that fires, explosions, and toxic exposures are no longer exceptional but “structural.”
“This situation is becoming untenable and leads the sector to ask a legitimate but fundamental question: is there a future for recycling and circularity?” the joint statement read, as reported by DHnet.
The economic toll is severe. A 2020 study found that the average cost of a lithium-ion battery fire ranges from €190,000 to €1.3 million. Recycling companies are increasingly being denied coverage by insurers, adding further financial pressure to an already strained sector.
What the Sector Demands
Industry leaders are calling for a comprehensive set of measures targeting every level of the value chain. These include eco-design requirements that would mandate clear labelling and easily removable batteries in all products, a deposit system for lithium-ion batteries to incentivise proper disposal, and a ban on certain high-risk products such as disposable e-cigarettes and devices with non-removable batteries.
Dupont emphasised that responsibility must begin at the point of sale: “The information, the citizen must have it when they buy the product, not when they end up with the waste in their hands. We ask the Walloon government for better awareness, better labelling, and we ask the federal government to also ban the placing on the market of certain goods that endanger our staff.”
A meeting between the intercommunales and the Walloon Minister of the Environment is scheduled before the end of June 2026, according to RTBF.
A Growing Regulatory Response
The severity of the problem has begun to attract regulatory attention. In January 2026, the International Organization for Standardization introduced ISO 3941:2026, which created a new fire classification — Class L — specifically for lithium-ion battery fires, a recognition of the unique challenges these fires pose.
Meanwhile, the European Union’s Battery Regulation is pushing for phased implementation of eco-design requirements, easier removability of batteries, and better labelling. But for the Belgian recycling sector, these measures cannot come soon enough.
What’s Next
As the Walloon government prepares for its meeting with waste management associations, the sector is watching closely. Potential outcomes include mandatory deposit systems, stricter product bans, and enhanced consumer awareness campaigns. The COPIDEC and Denuo joint statement made clear that without decisive action, the future of recycling itself is at stake.
For residents like Heel, a Couillet resident who spoke to RTBF, the danger has become personal: “I didn’t think there were batteries in birthday cards. We could have thrown one away and caused a fire — that’s serious.”
The question now is whether policymakers, manufacturers, and consumers will act before the next fire claims another life.