Waste station had to deal with nearly 30 fires in three years
NEARLY 30 fires have been sparked at the Waste Transfer station in the last three years, due to islanders failing to dispose of potentially dangerous items safely.
Guernsey Waste has launched a campaign – with the slogan ‘Check before you chuck, don’t leave it to luck’ – to highlight how some household items can pose a serious risk if thrown away in general household waste or recycling bags.
Guernsey Fire & Rescue Service’s head of operations & training, Tim Falla, said carelessly discarded items can endanger lives, and cause major damage to property and machinery.
‘In the past three years we have attended the waste transfer station at Longue Hougue on a number of occasions, to deal with fire incidents caused by items that were disposed of as general waste,’ he said.
‘Fortunately, none of these incidents have caused serious injury or damage, but there is always that risk.
‘We would therefore urge islanders to be aware of items that can be dangerous and follow the advice on how to dispose of them correctly.’
Guernsey Waste’s contracts and compliance manager Rachel Scally said while such items were not commonplace in waste and recycling, there had been numerous incidents.
‘Over the past three years, we have had almost 30 separate fire incidents at the waste transfer station at Longue Hougue,’ she said.
‘Four were activated by flares. Fortunately, none of these resulted in serious injury or damage because our fire suppression systems managed to extinguish them.
‘However, we have been lucky so far, because these items could have ignited or explode at any point from when they were collected through to being processed.’
A major fire at Bulwer Avenue in August 2018 was believed to have been started by a lithium ion battery.
‘This demonstrated it only takes one item to ignite, and the impact could be severe,’ Ms Scally said.
Guernsey Waste’s message of ‘Check before you chuck, don’t leave it to luck’ will appear around the harbours, on posters, beer mats, banners and across social media to push the message out to islanders.
A new web page – www.gov.gg/checkb4uchuck – and leaflet will identify the most common dangerous waste items and explain how to easily dispose of them properly.
Besides batteries, they include digital cameras, e-cigarettes, electronic items, flares, gas canisters, laptops and mobile phones.
These items should never be disposed of in household recycling or general waste bags.
Batteries can be recycled free of charge at Co-op Grand Marche Stores, Aladdin’s Cave, Waitrose, at all schools and the Household Waste & Recycling Centre at Longue Hougue.
Boatowners who may need to replace flares ahead of the spring should either return them for free to a marine trader – such as A B Marine, Boatworks+, Marine & General Chandlery or Sunsport Marine – or hand them into the Police Station so they can be safely disposed of.
n For information about the Longue Hougue Household Waste & Recycling Centre visit www.gov.gg/hwrc or contact Guernsey Waste recycle@gov.gg or call 221234.
Information on how to dispose of waste from commercial businesses can be found at www.gov.gg/commercialwaste.
