Battery fires cost the EU’s waste sector over £2.6 billion in damages last year, new figures show.
The analysis by FEAD, the European Waste Management Association, show battery fires are becoming more frequent and impacting every part of the waste value chain.
Between 2023 and 2025, FEAD says that battery fires caused around €7.3 billion in damage to the EU’s waste sector.
The analysis found that the sector invested around €730 million in upgrading facilities for fire prevention in 2025, and around €2 billion between 2023 and 2025.
FEAD says the costs fall almost entirely on waste management companies and insurance coverage of waste management operations is becoming ‘harder and more expensive’ to obtain.
FEAD is calling for a Battery Fire Prevention and Recovery Fund to help waste operators invest in prevention and rebuild after fires.
Paolo Campanella, FEAD Secretary General, said: “Every day, waste workers extinguish fires caused by batteries that end up in the wrong waste stream.”
“Waste operators are investing heavily in prevention, but they cannot carry this cost alone.”
FEAD estimates that around 10,900 battery fires broke out in the EU’s waste sector in 2025, around 30 every day. However, the real figure is likely to be higher.
Battery fires were found to hit every waste stream and every stage of the value chain, including bin lorries, sorting plants, and landfill.
Of the estimated 17,500 fires in the EU’s waste sector in 2025, around 10,900 were linked to batteries. However, the real share is also probably higher, as the cause of many fires is never identified.
The research found batteries are suspected in 75% of fires in Belgium, while in Norway, an EU neighbour, they were behind 76% of fires where the cause was known in 2025. In the Netherlands, around 40% of fires occur during waste collection.
FEAD says incidents have been recorded in residual household waste, packaging, paper and cardboard, bulky waste, furniture, metals, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and landfill operations.
As well as the analysis, FEAD is calling on EU policymakers to:
- Set up a Battery Fire Prevention and Recovery Fund, financed through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for batteries and electronic devices.
- Introduce a Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) for batteries likely to cause fires, to improve separate collection and keep batteries out of mixed municipal waste and other recycling streams.
- Ban disposable products containing batteries, such as single use vapes, which create unnecessary fire risks at the end of their life.
