INDUSTRY AWARENESS: Fire suppression technology for the UK’s waste and recycling sectors was discussed at a special event hosted by waste management service provider TJ in Portsmouth in collaboration with global engineering solutions company Barnbrook Systems. A £1.5m materials recovery facility for construction waste is being rebuilt at TJ’s Tipner site in the city after a major blaze in July was linked to an exploding lithium-ion battery. TJ’s managing director, John Gosling, is second from right. First left is Richard Dunn of Flair, a technology innovator working with Barnbrook Systems in Fareham, near Portsmouth. He showed innovative containment systems for stored or transported used batteries, using fire-resistant nanotechnology, and called E:BAG, E:BIN and E:CRATE.
Waste management operators in the UK face the risk of having insurance cover withdrawn if they don’t embrace fire suppression technology solutions at waste transfer facilities and recycling centres.
The costly impact of fires caused by exploding lithium-ion batteries, and what to do about the problem, led the agenda at a special open-discussion event in the South.
It was hosted by waste management service provider TJ in Portsmouth in collaboration with global engineering solutions company Barnbrook Systems and Flair, a technology innovator working with Barnbrook Systems.
A £1.5m materials recovery facility for construction waste is being rebuilt at TJ’s waterside Tipner site, by the M275 bridge which connects the city’s peninsula to the mainland, after a major blaze in July was linked to an exploding lithium-ion battery.
TJ, Barnbrook Systems and Flair teamed up to help raise industry awareness on how best to prevent workplace fires caused by thermal runaway from flammable lithium-ion batteries used in electronic devices such as vapes, electric vehicles and scooters, smartphones and laptops.
They invited operatives in the UK’s waste and recycling sectors to hear in person what lessons for industry could be drawn from the fire, which had broken out in the early hours.
Andrew Barnett, Barnbrook Systems’ managing director, based in Fareham, near Portsmouth, said: “What became clear in today’s on-site meeting is that it can only be a matter of time before fire insurance cover is withdrawn if operators cannot prove they are deploying containment systems for used batteries in transportation and storage.
“It is all about improving risk management with batteries, with thought-provoking discussions on the use of cannons, fire and heat detection, nanotechnology and wetting agents to supress fires before they endanger the lives of workers and emergency responders and cause costly property damage.”
TJ’s managing director, John Gosling, chaired the meeting, held outside the new waste transfer facility due to open in early January.
He said: “Whilst fire detection systems worked at the Tipner site, it was too late because thermal runaway had already taken place from a lithium-ion battery buried in tons of waste, which in turn caught the roof material alight.
“In line with latest best practice, we are installing a new range of measures, including thermal imaging technology and flame sensors, and will be trialling the E:BAG, which is an innovative product by Barnbrook Systems in conjunction with Flair.
“It is very much the hope of today’s attendees that regulators and industry can tackle the pressing issue of discarded batteries and how to transport and store them.
“To give scale to this problem, there are reportedly 360 million single-use vapes sold every year in the UK and many of them are being not disposed of safely even though they are electrical waste because of the lithium-ion batteries inside.”
The E:BAG, and larger E:BIN and E:CRATE, allows batteries or their parent devices – such as vapes, mobile phones and laptops – to be safely isolated and dealt with if overheating, smoking or on fire.
FLAMMABLE: A smartphone lithium-ion battery bursts into flames in a safety test by Barnbrook Systems in Hampshire. A similar battery is linked to a fire which destroyed a materials recovery facility for construction waste in Portsmouth in July 2024.
Nanotechnology has been used to create the E:BAG’s temperature sensitive smart fabric which smothers the battery or hardware once placed inside – preventing ignition and extinguishing flames.
The discussion group also explored how industrial-strength containers could be adapted with the suppression technology on a rental-type basis supplied by battery recyclers, as well as bags and bins that could be used on picking lines.
Colour coding of lids, or markers, were also mooted, to warn operatives to take extra care when opening or moving bins.
Lorry equipment manufacturers may want to consider deploying alert and suppression systems as well, such as in dustcarts.
The E:BAG featured on the BBC’s flagship evening programme The One Show, which attracts nearly three million viewers every night, on the evening of Tuesday January 7.
A production crew filmed a demonstration of the innovative E:BAG in action at Barnbrook Systems’ headquarters in Fareham and shot scenes at the Tipner site.
It comes as the Lithium-ion Battery Safety Bill to improve the safe storage, use and disposal of lithium-ion batteries passes through its committee stage at the House of Lords.
Safety issues with lithium-ion batteries are caused when the battery’s temperature rises uncontrollably in a dangerous process known as thermal runaway.
According to latest figures from the British Safety Council 10 people have died and 190 people have been injured from fires linked to lithium-ion batteries since 2020.
The UK Civil Aviation Authority received 65 reports of lithium-ion battery fires involving portable electronic devices carried by passengers in 2023 – a 60% increase on the previous year.
Figures from business insurers, based on freedom of information requests to UK fire and rescue services, showed that there were 921 call outs to fires linked to lithium-ion batteries in 2023, an increase of 46% on 2022.
Independent business Barnbrook’s award-winning Intelligent Internet of Things technology BlueCube© tracks such parameters as pressure, temperature and movement in real time with readings sent live to phone, laptop, desktop, tablet or phone for monitoring and intervention.
It can be used to track temperature and humidity of the interiors of E:BAG to monitor the condition of the suspect or burning devices inside.
TJ Waste & Recycling provides commercial waste management and workplace recycling services as well as skip and specialist waste management for the public and trade.
It is part of the TJ Group which also operates bulk haulage and muck-away TJ Transport. TJ Group employs 197 people, with a fleet of 80 liveried vehicles.
Flair, also based in Fareham, Hampshire, is a micro-business focused on innovative technology, especially in fire safety, aviation and transportation, with capability to develop bespoke solutions for industry that protect and prevent risk to people and plant.
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