Explosive waste in garbage cans. Throwing them out can cause an explosion

• In Bytków, someone threw used gas cylinders into a mixed waste container. They ended up in a garbage truck and during the crushing of the waste, an explosion occurred.
• An electric scooter battery caught fire in a garbage truck. Workers tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.
• Hazardous waste should be taken to PSZOKs because it may pose a real threat to sorting plant employees.

In recent days in Siemianowice Śląskie there has been a very dangerous situation related to incorrect waste disposal.

In Bytków, someone threw used gas cylinders into a mixed waste container. They ended up in a garbage truck and an explosion occurred while the waste was being crushed. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

- said Agnieszka Kucharzewska, city spokeswoman.

Another dangerous incident occurred when waste caught fire in a garbage truck after a used scooter battery had been thrown out. It was most likely that a spark was created as a result of the compaction, which started the fire. Employees tried to put out the fire with a fire extinguisher.

It is not only used gas cylinders or batteries that are thrown away where they should not be. In another district, in Michałkowice, used IV drips were found, i.e. abandoned medical waste.

- enumerates Iwona Robak-Charchan, head of the Department of Municipal Economy at the Siemianowice office.

He adds that such practice not only harms the environment, but above all creates a real threat to human health and the safety of employees dealing with waste management.

Due to recent events, officials explain that hazardous waste includes:

• batteries and accumulators,
• old electronic devices,
• chemicals (e.g. paints, solvents, cleaning agents),
• expired medications,
• used oils,
• toners,
• fluorescent lamps,
• medical waste.

They contain toxic, corrosive, flammable or explosive substances . Improper disposal can have serious consequences.

Throwing such items into regular bins primarily endangers people working in sorting plants and waste processing plants. - Contact with chemicals, sharp objects or biologically hazardous substances can lead to injuries, poisoning and even infectious diseases in employees - Kucharzewska points out.

It also explains that hazardous waste, so-called e-waste, increasingly poses a risk of fires and explosions due to improper use.

Lithium-ion batteries, aerosols or flammable liquids thrown into the local bin can cause spontaneous combustion or explosion, especially when waste is compacted in garbage trucks or on sorting lines. Fires in waste processing plants are a serious problem and can have catastrophic consequences.

- enumerates the spokeswoman for the Siemianowice office.

In addition, chemicals can penetrate the soil and groundwater, causing long-term contamination and a threat to human and animal health. It is important to emphasize that improper sorting also negatively affects the entire recycling system - hazardous waste can contaminate secondary raw materials and prevent their reuse, leading to an increase in the amount of waste going to landfill.

Many of us, holding a burned-out light bulb, a used power bank, or a container of WD-40, wonder what to do with this waste and which container to throw it into.

Unfortunately, the mixed waste container is not designed for this purpose , residents should take such items to the Municipal Waste Selective Collection Point. Such points accept various types of hazardous waste free of charge.

Additionally, many cities - including Siemianowice, Zabrze, Warsaw and Poznań - have mobile PSZOKs that appear in different parts of the city on specific days. It is worth checking the schedules on the websites of the offices.

Expired medicines can be returned to pharmacies, and used electronic equipment and batteries can be returned to selected stores and service points that are obliged to accept them.