Aberdeenshire Council has urged residents to remove batteries from electricals before recycling them after a fire destroyed valuable items at a waste site.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue service attended the Peterhead household waste recycling centre on Thursday 27 February to tackle the blaze a day after posting a prescient warning about battery disposal on social media.
The fire resulted in damage to the electricals container at the centre and the loss of electrical items for recycling.
Aberdeenshire Council said fires occurred when electricals containing batteries were thrown in with household waste or recycling and crushed or damaged in bin lorries and recycling centres.
The local authority said such incidents “put collection crews in danger, impact local services and cause air pollution levels to spike”.
Environment and sustainability head of service Ewan Wallace added: “All recycling taken to our household recycling centres is greatly appreciated. However, when it comes to electricals, please remove any batteries wherever possible and recycle them separately to ensure the safety of our staff and facilities.”
The council said free pink battery bags could be used to leave the items out separately at the kerbside, while there are specific containers for batteries at recycling centres.
Specialised drums are also available at all household recycling centres across Aberdeenshire to safely store vapes or e-cigarettes.
