On 12/28/20 16:57, Mel Beckman wrote:
It’s not just the lithium load in the environment that is of concern. As early as 2018 the US EPA had collected data on the incidence of so-called “hot fires” caused by lithium batteries in the waste stream. So far, nobody has been killed. But it’s only a matter of time before someone is, given that there are no thermal protection measures built into the cells themselves, only into a functioning product. But the industry has dismissed self-extinguishing batteries as too impactful on weight/performance ratio.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-03/documents/timpane_epa_li_... <https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2018-03/documents/timpane_epa_li_slides312_ll_1.pdf>
Certainly, poor handling as part of disposal of spent Li-Ion batteries is likely not well appreciated. Worse when you are dealing with stationery storage like residential, commercial and utility applications. It's a terrible idea to handle Li-Ion battery disposal without expertise, understanding and training. The fact is that for the pervasiveness and proliferation of Li-Ion technology, its safety is not a very well understood in many respects, with physical handling being, perhaps, the least appreciated. Mark.