Lithium-ion batteries combust on contact with water or oxygen– and their presence in Lane County landfills are only increasing.
By Fern Dimick
How many rechargeable devices do you own? A laptop, a phone? Maybe even an electric toothbrush? What will you do when they break?
Your knee jerk reaction may be to just throw it away — but doing so can have dire consequences.
Rechargeable devices made within the past 20 years contain lithium-ion batteries. Lithium is a highly reactive element, and if exposed to oxygen or water, the battery will burst into flames.
The Clean Energy Institute at the University of Washington states that the first commercial use of li-ion batteries was in 1991. They have since become the predominant type of battery used in electric vehicles and rechargeable devices.
According to Waste Reduction Specialist Maya Buelow, fires caused by lithium-ion batteries doubled in Lane County from 2018 to 2023. Despite multiple options to dispose of these batteries safely, they are being tossed into facilities that aren’t designed to process them — such as landfills, which increases the chance of combustion.
Buelow insists that a lack of education is a major player in this issue. “Especially [sic] in the last ten [to] twenty years, the battery chemistries have changed a lot,” Buelow adds. “So education and knowledge in the general public around what to do with each of those battery chemistries is just not caught up.”
According to electrochemist Matthias Agne, li-ion batteries have one side with lithium (held together by graphite) and the other with a conductive element (like nickel or cobalt). This provides the electrons needed for a chemical reaction — giving the battery its power.
To ensure that no reaction occurs randomly inside the battery, there is a thin glass separator. However, there needs to be a way for the lithium to go through this separator when the battery needs to be used.
“All of the lithium-ion battery technology that we’re using right now is all doing that with a liquid component,”Agne says, “This is basically a salt solution with lithium salt that allows the lithium ions to go back and forth between the graphite and the rock.”
Since the lithium salt solution doesn’t carry the electrons in addition to the lithium ions, it ensures that the chemical reaction does not happen on its own.
If the battery is damaged, then the lithium is exposed to water or oxygen, which will trigger the battery to combust.
One fire can damage other li-ion batteries and cause them to combust as well. When this happens in places packed with flammable materials, like landfills, things can quickly get out of hand.
Due to the high amounts of energy within the battery and the reactivity of lithium, these fires cannot be put out with extinguishers, water or sand. The only option is to smother the flame.
An even bigger problem emerges with batteries that are embedded in devices such as phones, laptops, electric vehicles (also known as an “EV”), or even light-up shoes. An embedded battery must be extracted from the device in order to dispose of the battery safely. However, the battery extraction process can cause damage to the battery vessel and result in flames.
Due to how quickly li-ion batteries charge and how long they last, it’s unlikely that they will leave the mainstream any time soon.
According to Maya Buelow, here are some ways that Lane County residents and facilities alike can practice battery safety:
- Education
Educating yourself and others about safe battery disposal is the most important solution. There is a U.S. Department of Energy grant for Lane County that ensured an expansion of facilities and education programs (such as in Bethel School District) beginning in December of 2025. There are, however, at-home options for education as well.
Some examples include; Lane County’s WasteWise app (also available in website or newsletter format) where you can search a specific item and it tells you where and how to safely dispose of it.
Another example is Redwood Materials’ “Advocate Toolkit” which is a free to download PDF explaining batteries and how to dispose of them as well as electronic devices.
Manufacturers often have instructions on safe disposal of their devices – make it a habit to check user manuals.
- Practice Safety Before Disposal
Some important precautions to take at home include taping the circumference of the battery and (if the device is rechargeable) to only use chargers provided by the device manufacturer.
Taping the battery can prevent both damage to the battery as well as oxygen from making contact. Clear packaging tape is thick and wide, making it ideal.
Chargers (especially in the context of EVs) are made for specific devices and their batteries; this results in chargers adjusting how much energy they are giving to ensure no overheating (this can be seen when iPhones say they are “optimizing charging”). When you use a third party charger, there is a higher risk of your device overheating.
It’s also important to make sure that you’re not leaving devices plugged in for longer than they need to be to decrease the chance of overheating. “Ideally, people aren’t leaving devices plugged in when they’re not home either,” Buelow adds.
In the instance of vaping devices, ditch the non-recyclable “disposables” and opt for devices that have a detachable battery.
- Recycling Programs
Lane County has the Household Hazardous Waste program hosted at Glenwood Transfer Station. An individual can simply schedule an appointment, and professionals will dispose of your materials for you. Just be sure to tape any batteries and store them in a ziploc bag beforehand!
Buelow recommends Redwood Materials, a company based in Nevada that is dedicated to safe battery and device recycling. They are unique in that they have the capacity to recycle EV batteries – something that is notoriously difficult and expensive to do. An individual can mail their device or batteries to Redwood Materials, and they will safely handle it.
Businesses, schools, and other facilities may turn to a program such as Call 2 Recycle. In this instance, the facility will pay for and receive a battery recycling box lined with a fiberglass blanket. If a fire were to occur inside, the liner will melt around it and smother the flame.
In fact, one of the key aspects of the Department of Energy grant mentioned above is that Call 2 Recycle and Bi-Mart will partner to provide battery disposal sites in stores throughout Lane County with the hopes that safe battery disposal will be as common as going grocery shopping.
