Joint call for EU action to protect waste management from surging lithium battery fires
The undersigned associations representing the entire public and private waste management value chain, extended producer responsibility organisations and public service unions, are expressing concerns over a significant increase in fire incidents within the European waste management sector, largely attributed to the misplacement of lithium batteries. These incidents present substantial safety hazards for workers, cause substantial damage to critical infrastructure, and jeopardise the financial stability of waste management operators, as well as the achievement of the European Union’s circular economy goals. We are calling upon the European Commission to take decisive regulatory action to mitigate these risks and protect Europe’s waste management infrastructure and workers.
CEWEP (Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants) is the umbrella association of the operators of Waste-to-Energy plants across Europe. https://www.cewep.eu/
EPRO is a circular plastic association with 25 members in Europe and internationally, focusing on the collection, sorting, and recycling of packaging and agricultural plastics. https://epro-plasticscircularity.org
EPSU (European Federation of Public Service Unions) organises workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local, regional and central government, in all European countries. https://www.epsu.org/
EuRIC is the voice of the Europe’s recycling industries, with 80 members across 23 EU & EFTA countries. https://euric-aisbl.eu/
EXPRA (Extended Producer Responsibility Alliance) is the alliance of 32 packaging and packaging waste recovery and recycling organizations from EU and non-EU countries. https://expra.eu/
FEAD is the European Waste Management Association that represents the private waste management and resource industry across Europe. https://fead.be/
FERVER is the European federation representing glass recycling companies. https://ferver.eu/
Municipal Waste Europe is the European Umbrella Association for Public Waste Management. https://www.municipalwasteeurope.eu/
