How to dispose of rechargeable batteries without causing a fire

“That sucker was on fire,” said Bearden.The cause, as best as he can tell, was a lithium-ion battery that may have gotten damaged in transit and caused a spark that ignited the blaze. None of the batteries being stored in the facility for recycling was mishandled, Bearden said, before adding that the company now gets so many that employees can’t always check every one that arrives.Story continues below advertisement“We may be crazy, but we’re not careless,” he said.Between a steady drum beat of new gadget announcements, our collective embrace of tiny electronics and rising demand for a new generation of fully electric cars, our reliance on powerful, rechargeable batteries continues to deepen. All the while, battery-related accidents such as the one Bearden describes — including some that could be avoided entirely — have grown all too common.In January, two…

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