Neil Eves of Hochiki Europe explores why lithium-ion battery fire detection requires specialised strategies for communal bin stores, refuse areas and underground car parks
Battery-related fires in the waste stream have now reached EU ministerial level. In December 2025, European Environment Ministers formally addressed the escalating dangers posed by lithium batteries, discussing possible EU-wide responses including a pan-European battery deposit system.
The scale of the problem makes that level of attention unsurprising. An industry association survey reported by EUWID in 2024 found that lithium batteries are responsible for almost 80% of fires in waste treatment plants across Europe.
In the UK, the National Fire Chiefs Council recorded over 1,200 battery-related fires in refuse collection vehicles and at waste sites in 2023. Research by the Environmental Services Association and Material Focus has estimated the total cost to UK waste operators, fire services and local authorities at around £158 million per year.
Those figures capture what happens once waste is in the collection and processing system. They do not capture the fires that start before the lorry arrives: in communal bin stores, external refuse areas and the underground car parks that sit directly beneath occupied residential buildings.
These environments are where the battery fire problem intersects with our work as fire safety professionals.
Understanding lithium-ion battery fire risks
Lithium-ion batteries, found in mobile phones, laptops, power tools, e-scooters and vaping devices, carry significant energy density in a compact form. When the internal structure of a battery is compromised through crushing, puncturing or compaction, the result can be thermal runaway: a rapid, self-sustaining increase in temperature driven by internal chemical reactions. Once initiated, thermal runaway can produce intense heat, release flammable gases and reach temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius.
In waste environments, batteries are frequently damaged through routine handling. A battery discarded in a communal bin may be crushed by the weight of other waste or by a bin lid before a fire develops.
Critically, ignition does not always follow immediately. Smouldering can precede visible ignition by some time, meaning a fire may be developing in an enclosed or semi-enclosed space before any sign is apparent to building occupants or staff.
Battery fires are also resistant to suppression because apparent extinguishment does not guarantee the fire is out. Residual heat and ongoing internal reactions can cause re-ignition.
Fire detection challenges in communal bin stores and underground car parks
Communal bin stores are often located close to or within the building fabric: in basement areas, service yards, under-crofts or partially sheltered external spaces.
Even where they are technically external, accumulation of heat and smoke is a realistic scenario. These areas are routinely exposed to dust, moisture and temperature variation and washdown during cleaning, wind-driven rain and condensation are all factors that affect long-term device performance.
External refuse areas present similar conditions, compounded by greater exposure to weather and wider temperature ranges across the year. Regulatory restrictions on single-use disposable vapes are now in place or in progress across the UK and several European markets, but large numbers of devices remain in circulation and continue to enter the waste stream in a damaged or discharged state.
The disposal problem will persist for some time regardless of regulatory progress. Underground car parks introduce a further set of considerations. These spaces are typically constructed from concrete.
Across Europe, planning policy, low-emission zones and fiscal incentives have accelerated the uptake of electric vehicles, meaning that large lithium-ion battery systems are now routinely parked beneath occupied buildings in cities from London to Berlin to Madrid.
Current evidence does not show that electric vehicles are more likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel vehicles. However, where electric vehicles are present, any fire developing in close proximity carries a different escalation profile.
Involvement of a lithium-ion traction battery can significantly extend fire duration, heat release and the risk of re-ignition, even where the vehicle was not the original ignition source.
In a confined underground space, that escalation potential has direct implications for the detection strategy, for compartmentation and for the protection of escape routes above.
Why heat detection outperforms optical smoke detection
False alarm performance is central to how I evaluate and advise on detection suitability on any project and these environments expose the limitations of optical smoke detection clearly.
Background contamination, airflow disruption and temperature variation all create conditions in which optical detectors either generate nuisance alarms or fail to perform consistently over time
Heat detection is the more appropriate primary detection approach in these environments. It is unaffected by airborne contamination, handles variable airflow well and can be specified to cope with the conditions these spaces create.
Specifiers should look for devices combining fixed temperature sensing with rate-of-rise sensing: fixed temperature elements respond when a defined threshold is reached, while rate-of-rise elements detect rapid increases in temperature associated with fast-developing fires.
Environmental resilience is not an optional refinement. An ingress protection rating of IP67, indicating dust-tight construction and resistance to temporary water immersion, is the appropriate starting point for devices installed in spaces subject to rain, spray, condensation or high humidity. The challenge is that relatively few manufacturers produce heat detection specifically designed and tested to operate at this level of ingress protection.
Environmental ratings are worth scrutinising carefully at specification stage, since the available options are narrower than they might first appear. All heat detection specified for these applications should carry EN 54-5 certification and third-party approval from a recognised body such as VdS or LPCB. In Belgium, specifiers should also consider BOSEC approval, the national certification scheme for fire detection systems.
Physical protection for fire detection devices
Communal spaces are accessible environments. Wire cages and protective guards reduce the risk of accidental damage or deliberate interference without compromising heat detection performance, since heat detection does not rely on unobstructed airflow in the way smoke detection does.
Fire detection specification, insurance and certified expertise
The consequences of getting specification wrong in these environments are becoming financial as well as operational. Across Europe, the insurance market is responding directly to the battery fire problem.
According to FEAD, the European Waste Management Association, some waste facilities in Belgium have already lost insurance coverage altogether and the recycling industry now carries a loss ratio almost twice that of other fire-exposed industries such as wood processing.
Industry analysis published in early 2026 makes the shift in underwriting thinking explicit: the key question for insurers is no longer simply whether a fire will occur, but whether it will stay contained.
That framing has direct implications for how fire safety professionals approach specification in battery risk environments. Demonstrating that detection has been selected and installed to the appropriate environmental standard, by manufacturers with verified third-party certification and a credible track record in demanding applications, is increasingly part of what good fire safety design looks like to an underwriter.
It is also, of course, what it looks like to a competent fire safety professional. Fire risk assessments and fire strategies for buildings with communal waste storage should address waste management arrangements explicitly: bin store location relative to the building fabric, collection frequency and procedures for damaged or suspect batteries.
National codes of practice and standards across European markets vary in how they frame these requirements, but the underlying design principle is consistent: the fire strategy should reflect the realities of how the building is actually used.
Detection technology addresses the consequences of a fire developing. Occupant education, clear signage and correct disposal practices reduce the likelihood. Both belong in the strategy.
The combination of appropriately rated detection, sound specification and clear waste management protocols gives fire safety professionals a practical and proportionate response to a risk that is documented, growing and now firmly on the European regulatory agenda.
Lithium-ion battery fire detection in communal spaces
Lewis Tyler
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Neil Eves of Hochiki Europe explores why lithium-ion battery fire detection requires specialised strategies for communal bin stores, refuse areas and underground car parks
Battery-related fires in the waste stream have now reached EU ministerial level. In December 2025, European Environment Ministers formally addressed the escalating dangers posed by lithium batteries, discussing possible EU-wide responses including a pan-European battery deposit system.
The scale of the problem makes that level of attention unsurprising. An industry association survey reported by EUWID in 2024 found that lithium batteries are responsible for almost 80% of fires in waste treatment plants across Europe.
In the UK, the National Fire Chiefs Council recorded over 1,200 battery-related fires in refuse collection vehicles and at waste sites in 2023. Research by the Environmental Services Association and Material Focus has estimated the total cost to UK waste operators, fire services and local authorities at around £158 million per year.
Those figures capture what happens once waste is in the collection and processing system. They do not capture the fires that start before the lorry arrives: in communal bin stores, external refuse areas and the underground car parks that sit directly beneath occupied residential buildings.
These environments are where the battery fire problem intersects with our work as fire safety professionals.
Understanding lithium-ion battery fire risks
Lithium-ion batteries, found in mobile phones, laptops, power tools, e-scooters and vaping devices, carry significant energy density in a compact form. When the internal structure of a battery is compromised through crushing, puncturing or compaction, the result can be thermal runaway: a rapid, self-sustaining increase in temperature driven by internal chemical reactions. Once initiated, thermal runaway can produce intense heat, release flammable gases and reach temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius.
In waste environments, batteries are frequently damaged through routine handling. A battery discarded in a communal bin may be crushed by the weight of other waste or by a bin lid before a fire develops.
Critically, ignition does not always follow immediately. Smouldering can precede visible ignition by some time, meaning a fire may be developing in an enclosed or semi-enclosed space before any sign is apparent to building occupants or staff.
Battery fires are also resistant to suppression because apparent extinguishment does not guarantee the fire is out. Residual heat and ongoing internal reactions can cause re-ignition.
Fire detection challenges in communal bin stores and underground car parks
Communal bin stores are often located close to or within the building fabric: in basement areas, service yards, under-crofts or partially sheltered external spaces.
Even where they are technically external, accumulation of heat and smoke is a realistic scenario. These areas are routinely exposed to dust, moisture and temperature variation and washdown during cleaning, wind-driven rain and condensation are all factors that affect long-term device performance.
External refuse areas present similar conditions, compounded by greater exposure to weather and wider temperature ranges across the year. Regulatory restrictions on single-use disposable vapes are now in place or in progress across the UK and several European markets, but large numbers of devices remain in circulation and continue to enter the waste stream in a damaged or discharged state.
The disposal problem will persist for some time regardless of regulatory progress. Underground car parks introduce a further set of considerations. These spaces are typically constructed from concrete.
Across Europe, planning policy, low-emission zones and fiscal incentives have accelerated the uptake of electric vehicles, meaning that large lithium-ion battery systems are now routinely parked beneath occupied buildings in cities from London to Berlin to Madrid.
Current evidence does not show that electric vehicles are more likely to catch fire than petrol or diesel vehicles. However, where electric vehicles are present, any fire developing in close proximity carries a different escalation profile.
Involvement of a lithium-ion traction battery can significantly extend fire duration, heat release and the risk of re-ignition, even where the vehicle was not the original ignition source.
In a confined underground space, that escalation potential has direct implications for the detection strategy, for compartmentation and for the protection of escape routes above.
Why heat detection outperforms optical smoke detection
False alarm performance is central to how I evaluate and advise on detection suitability on any project and these environments expose the limitations of optical smoke detection clearly.
Background contamination, airflow disruption and temperature variation all create conditions in which optical detectors either generate nuisance alarms or fail to perform consistently over time
Heat detection is the more appropriate primary detection approach in these environments. It is unaffected by airborne contamination, handles variable airflow well and can be specified to cope with the conditions these spaces create.
Specifiers should look for devices combining fixed temperature sensing with rate-of-rise sensing: fixed temperature elements respond when a defined threshold is reached, while rate-of-rise elements detect rapid increases in temperature associated with fast-developing fires.
Environmental resilience is not an optional refinement. An ingress protection rating of IP67, indicating dust-tight construction and resistance to temporary water immersion, is the appropriate starting point for devices installed in spaces subject to rain, spray, condensation or high humidity. The challenge is that relatively few manufacturers produce heat detection specifically designed and tested to operate at this level of ingress protection.
Environmental ratings are worth scrutinising carefully at specification stage, since the available options are narrower than they might first appear. All heat detection specified for these applications should carry EN 54-5 certification and third-party approval from a recognised body such as VdS or LPCB. In Belgium, specifiers should also consider BOSEC approval, the national certification scheme for fire detection systems.
Physical protection for fire detection devices
Communal spaces are accessible environments. Wire cages and protective guards reduce the risk of accidental damage or deliberate interference without compromising heat detection performance, since heat detection does not rely on unobstructed airflow in the way smoke detection does.
Fire detection specification, insurance and certified expertise
The consequences of getting specification wrong in these environments are becoming financial as well as operational. Across Europe, the insurance market is responding directly to the battery fire problem.
According to FEAD, the European Waste Management Association, some waste facilities in Belgium have already lost insurance coverage altogether and the recycling industry now carries a loss ratio almost twice that of other fire-exposed industries such as wood processing.
Industry analysis published in early 2026 makes the shift in underwriting thinking explicit: the key question for insurers is no longer simply whether a fire will occur, but whether it will stay contained.
That framing has direct implications for how fire safety professionals approach specification in battery risk environments. Demonstrating that detection has been selected and installed to the appropriate environmental standard, by manufacturers with verified third-party certification and a credible track record in demanding applications, is increasingly part of what good fire safety design looks like to an underwriter.
It is also, of course, what it looks like to a competent fire safety professional. Fire risk assessments and fire strategies for buildings with communal waste storage should address waste management arrangements explicitly: bin store location relative to the building fabric, collection frequency and procedures for damaged or suspect batteries.
National codes of practice and standards across European markets vary in how they frame these requirements, but the underlying design principle is consistent: the fire strategy should reflect the realities of how the building is actually used.
Detection technology addresses the consequences of a fire developing. Occupant education, clear signage and correct disposal practices reduce the likelihood. Both belong in the strategy.
The combination of appropriately rated detection, sound specification and clear waste management protocols gives fire safety professionals a practical and proportionate response to a risk that is documented, growing and now firmly on the European regulatory agenda.
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