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NAT CAT AND PROTECTION GAPS

BATTERY FIRE RISKS

Tackling battery-related fire risks in WEEE

Pascal Leroy

Director General of the WEEE Forum

Fires caused by lithium batteries in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) have become a growing concern for waste management facilities.

To tackle this issue, organisations representing the collection and treatment of spent batteries and WEEE, along with manufacturers of home appliances and consumer electronics, established the Batteries Roundtable in 2019 to exchange views and develop solutions.

Insurance Europe has recently been involved in these efforts through its collaboration in the development of Industry guidance for collecting, handling, and treating waste lithium batteries, published in 2025 by some members of the Batteries Roundtable, Insurance Europe and Recharge. This guidance provides examples of good practice to help manage risks across the waste lithium battery chain, including measures to improve health and safety for personnel, plant and equipment in both single-type battery collection and e-waste treatment streams.

Survey findings on WEEE fires

The need for such a collaboration first became evident following the results of an EU-wide survey on fires in the WEEE management chain, which was launched by the Batteries Roundtable in 2019. The findings were published in the report Characterisation of fires caused by batteries in WEEE, prepared by two members of the Roundtable, EuRIC (European Recycling Industries Confederation) and the WEEE Forum, an international association of 51 producer responsibility organisations that manage the collection and proper recycling of electrical and electronic waste.

Survey responses confirmed a rise in fires across the WEEE management chain, with thermal events occurring at every stage of the WEEE collection and treatment chain. Most fires were reported during the following stages:

  • Shredding during treatment
  • Storage at the logistics sites
  • Pre-treatment

For four out of ten respondents, most thermal events did not require insurance coverage. However, the average cost of reported incidents in 2018 was estimated at €190 000, representing a significant burden for an individual company. The most severe fires over the past four years resulted in average damages of €1.3 million.

Since 2018, the situation has worsened, with rising costs of damage, increased environmental pollution and heightened health and safety risks.

Challenges in insuring waste management facilities

The survey also highlighted that current insurance policies are not suited to the emerging risks of fires caused by spent batteries and WEEE containing batteries.

Waste management facilities struggle to obtain insurance covering their activities due to the risks associated with batteries in waste. This means increased premiums, exclusions from coverage or simply the inability to find an insurer willing to provide policies.

These issues become even more problematic when facilities’ permits are contingent on securing insurance coverage. The implementation of best practices to prevent and mitigate battery fires in the recycling value chain is not accompanied by requirements to guarantee the insurability of waste management companies.

The report concludes that further investigation into the insurance challenges is necessary.

“Current insurance policies are not suited to the emerging risks of fires caused by spent batteries and WEEE containing batteries.”

Recommendations to improve fire prevention and insurability

Insurance concerns are widely mentioned in Recommendations for tackling fires caused by lithium batteries in WEEE, a second complementary report published by the Batteries Roundtable in July 2021. Particularly, Recommendation 13.2 on addressing insurance coverage for waste management facilities (page 86) calls to enhance dialogue and consensus between the waste industry and the insurance sectors to look for solutions, methodologies and tools, such as:

  • Implement fire protection standards to improve insurability. A specific standard must be established to develop minimum requirements for prevention, mitigation and extinguishing systems.
  • Consider including fire prevention and safety criteria in public procurement calls.
  • Address conditions that act as barriers for renewing the contracts between insurance and recycling companies.
  • Develop a methodology to calculate insurance premiums so that the collaboration can be mutually beneficial and long-lasting. It is proposed that the insurance premium be reduced when a certain level of prevention and safety measures is met by the treatment company. Insurance brokers/agents can assess compliance through inspections, and when deficiencies are found, a period for corrective measures is suggested to help treatment facilities meet the required level of prevention and safety standards.

Ongoing industry efforts

The Batteries Roundtable’s continued collaboration with industry groups like Insurance Europe actively provides guidance on the proper treatment of waste lithium batteries and electronic waste containing batteries. The recent publication of the Industry guidance for collecting, handling, and treating waste lithium batteries is a case in point. Considerations from the insurance industry perspective include the fact that even though there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to insurance coverage, there are conditions of insurability which have to be met, both from the insurer side and from the policyholder side.

On this matter, Insurance Europe’s Prevention Forum brings together different panels of experts in order to jointly develop further recommendations, most recently exploring ways to establish a comprehensive guidance document for insurers on e-waste recycling. We look forward to continuing positive engagement and collaboration with Insurance Europe to support these initiatives and drive further progress in sustainable management.