How Los Angeles, CA Removed 1 Million Pounds of Flammable Lithium-Ion Batteries from its Burn Zones
Waste & Recycling | 2025-04-15 00:02:09
Environmental workers recovered more than 16 times as many batteries from the wreckage of the L.A. fires than in the wildfires that swept Maui in 2023.
By SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): The fires that swept through Los Angeles County in January left behind more than 1 million pounds of damaged lithium-ion batteries. After being exposed to temperatures of more than 2,000 degrees, the thousands of lithium ion batteries left behind in the ruins of more than 13,500 houses and garages could have exploded or caught fire at any time.
Federal environmental officials are in the final days of a months-long effort to find the batteries and stop them from catching fire, which involves sifting through fire debris by hand, dunking the batteries in a specialized brine solution, then grinding them into pieces for transportation and recycling.
Environmental workers recovered more than 16 times as many batteries from the wreckage of the L.A. fires than in the wildfires that swept Maui in 2023.
Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com
