While the cause of two recent fires at the Glenmore Landfill has not been determined, the facility鈥檚 operations manager has a pretty good idea of how they started.

鈥淲e do have fires pop up, it鈥檚 an issue in waste management,鈥� said Scott Hoekstra, manager of landfill and composting operations. 鈥淧robably 80 per cent of the time the source is either a car battery or lithium batteries.鈥�

The fires occurred on July 10 and 19.

READ MORE: Glenmore Landfill fire in 琉璃神社 extinguished, 鈥榯ook most of the night鈥�

READ MORE: Second fire in 9 days at 琉璃神社鈥檚 Glenmore Landfill

Hoekstra added that people who think it鈥檚 fine to throw electronic devices in the trash, such as cell phones, mobile, and wireless Bluetooth devices, need to take them to a designated recycling centre.

鈥淪ome of it is education, some of it is people having to care enough. People have to know that it鈥檚 a problem and they have to take the time to manage it appropriately.鈥�

Even the smallest of devices can be hazardous, Hoekstra explained.

鈥淭wo years ago we had 500 or 600 e-cigs and vape pens mixed in a load, obviously from a shop that had been cleaning out, which started a small fire that was put out in a few minutes. We pulled all those out and managed them appropriately.鈥�

Hoekstra added that lithium batteries can be found in many things that people just don鈥檛 think about.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 a real challenge in the waste management industry.鈥�

Hoekstra said the Glenmore Landfill sees about eight small fires a year related to batteries and other items such as compressed and gas cylinders and propane tanks.

鈥淚n speaking with others in the industry of a similar size, they get a similar number as well. There are so many things that people put in these bins that potentially could be a fire starter.鈥�

While car batteries are accepted for free at the landfill, devices with lithium batteries are not. They need to be taken to an appropriate recycling centre.

Information on recycling lithium batteries and other household hazardous waste can be found on these websites:

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gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com
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