Battery fires cost the European waste sector more than €2.6 billion a year

Brussels, 3 November 2026 – Battery fires cost the European Union's waste sector an estimated €2.66 billion in damage last year, according to new figures from FEAD, the European Waste Management Association1. The figures show that battery fires are a European problem, not a local one: they are becoming more frequent, they hit every part of the waste value chain, and most of them never make the headlines. 

Over 2023–2025, battery fires caused some €7.3 billion in damage to the EU's waste sector. On top of the damage, the sector invested around €730 million in upgrading facilities for fire prevention in 2025, and around €2 billion over 2023–2025. So far, these costs fall almost entirely on waste management companies. Insurance coverage of waste management operations is also becoming harder and more expensive to obtain. 

Battery fires are now a daily occurrence. FEAD estimates that around 10,900 battery fires broke out in the EU's waste sector in 2025, or around 30 every day. However, the real figure is likely to be even higher. In Belgium, the sector estimates one fire every three days, while in Germany, a new study commissioned by BDE, the Federation of the German Waste, Water and Circular Economy Management Industry, found that the 181 surveyed waste facilities reported about 2,000 fires and 3,000 dangerous hotspot events in 2025. That is around 14 incidents a day in this sample alone, about 90% of them attributed to lithium batteries. Countries define and record fires differently, so an EU-wide estimate can only capture part of the picture. In addition, many small fires extinguished on site, without fire service intervention or press coverage, are rarely logged.

‘Every day, waste workers extinguish fires caused by batteries that end up in the wrong waste stream. Waste operators are investing heavily in prevention, but they cannot carry this cost alone. That is why FEAD is calling for a Battery Fire Prevention and Recovery Fund to help waste operators invest in prevention and rebuild after fires’, said Paolo Campanella, FEAD Secretary General.

A threatening trend for the sector. In the EU, battery fires rose by 27% in just two years, from around 8,600 in 2023 to 10,900 in 2025. National data shows the same pattern over a longer period. In the Netherlands, fires in waste management more than quadrupled between 2016 and 2024, and in Belgium, press-reported fires nearly tripled between 2023 and 2025. In Germany, the number of fires also nearly tripled between 2021 and 2025. In Austria, the number of publicly known fires in waste management facilities was multiplied by almost 15 between 2007/08 and 2024/25 (from 10 to 147 fires), according to a study carried out in collaboration with VOEB, the Association of Austrian Waste Management Companies. VOEB also found that over the last ten years, the number of lithium batteries wrongly thrown into residual waste has quadrupled to more than 8 per tonne. That means an average residual waste collection truck (about 8.5 tonnes) now carries around 70 lithium batteries, each one a potential fire starter. The trend reflects the growing number of batteries in everyday products, from disposable vapes to toys, smartwatches and earphones.

Behind most fires in waste management today is a battery. Of the estimated 17,500 fires in the EU's waste sector in 2025, around 10,900, or 6 in 10, were linked to batteries. The real share is probably higher, as the cause of many fires is never identified. In Belgium, batteries are suspected in 75% of fires, while in Norway, an EU neighbour, they were behind 76% of fires where the cause was known in 2025. 

Battery fires hit every waste stream and every stage of the value chain, from the bin lorry to the sorting plant and the landfill. In the Netherlands, around 40% of fires occur during waste collection. In France, the ARIA database shows that battery-related fires occur in all types of waste management facilities, from collection and sorting to recycling and final treatment. Such incidents have been recorded in residual household waste, packaging, paper and cardboard, bulky waste, furniture, metals, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and landfill operations.

Yet most of these incidents never reach the press. Only around 1,100 of the estimated 10,900 battery fires in 2025 became publicly known. In Norway, only 4% of fires were handled by the fire service in 2025, and the Austrian study describes press-reported fires as ‘only the tip of the iceberg’. For each fire people read about, nine more are extinguished by waste workers. This is a daily risk to their own safety, even though companies are investing heavily in prevention and protection measures and fire training. 

1. Set up a Battery Fire Prevention and Recovery Fund, financed through Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for batteries and electronic devices, to help waste operators prevent fires and recover from them. 
2. Introduce a deposit return system for batteries likely to cause fires, to improve separate collection and keep batteries out of mixed municipal waste and other recycling streams. 
3. Ban disposable products containing batteries, such as single use vapes, which create unnecessary fire risks at the end of their life. 

¹EU figures are FEAD estimates for the EU-27 for 2025 unless otherwise stated, based on national data from FEAD members; country examples also include Norway.