Mayor of Willoughby calls on residents to safely dispose of batteries, following Northbridge garbage truck fire

Willoughby City Council

Mayor of Willoughby, Tanya Taylor is calling on residents of the Local Government Area to avoid putting batteries of any kind into general waste bins, following a dramatic event caught on video when a contracted garbage truck caught alight.  

The event occurred at 9.13am on 22 October, while the truck was performing routine waste collection duties at Northbridge after a lithium battery disposed of in garbage began smoking and subsequently combusted, setting on fire surrounding waste on board the truck.

View footage of the incident here: https://youtu.be/Rd2biYk40nw 

The vehicle was promptly redirected to Tunks Park in nearby Cammeray—a location chosen for its open space and lack of overhead power lines, trees, or parked cars, minimising the risk to the surrounding area— where the driver of the truck successfully extinguished the fire before emergency services arrived.

The truck was then safely returned to the Council Waste depot in Artarmon for further inspections. No injuries were sustained.  

Mayor Taylor said the event is a stark reminder of the need for safe battery disposal. 

“I was shocked to hear of this event at Northbridge, however the sad reality is that such occurrences of garbage truck fires are becoming increasingly frequent around Sydney and beyond.

“Even very small household batteries like the AA and AAA size can cause havoc for our garbage trucks, starting fires within the compactors of trucks, which are very hard to extinguish.

“I’m calling on all residents of Willoughby to please learn about safe and responsible battery disposal and to follow Council’s advice on best practice. We do not want to see a repeat of this event, nor a more severe instance of these circumstances that could cost the environment or health or even lives here in our beautiful Willoughby”.

Willoughby City Council regularly promotes safe battery disposal, encouraging residents to collect unused batteries into a container and bring them to the Northern Sydney Community Recycling Centre.

Learn more at Willoughby City Council’s website: https://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/ewaste