What the San Francisco Chronicle says about lithium-ion battery fires

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, lithium-ion batteries are becoming a major and growing fire hazard, especially in homes and apartments.

• A recent Bay Area fire caused by an e-bike battery led to a death after toxic smoke exposure

• These batteries can overheat, catch fire, or even explode, especially if they are damaged or poorly manufactured

• The fires are particularly dangerous because they produce thick, toxic smoke that can become deadly within seconds

• The number of lithium-ion battery fires has increased significantly in recent years, tracking the rise of devices like e-bikes and scooters

Less than 5% of batteries are recycled and collected.  Considering that by 2030 there will be over 140 million electric vehicles each of them consisting of a certain amount of Lithium-ion battery, this could be a major problem.  In order to spread awareness of this problem and to contribute to solving this I created a battery box and placed it in my school's main office on September 9, 2022.  Within a month of having the box, we collected 5000+ batteries in our school.