Last year, about 20 major fires broke out at various waste management facilities in Lithuania. The causes could have been various – malfunctions, short circuits, or human errors, but one of the most frequently mentioned risks is electronic devices with built-in lithium batteries, flammable batteries, or their parts entering the municipal and other waste streams.
Fire stops the entire system
When a part of the waste management infrastructure burns down, the consequences are felt not only by a specific supplier or system participants but also by residents and businesses. The waste management system operates as a single mechanism: when one link is disrupted, problems spread further and deepen, becoming chronic. Restoring damaged sorting lines takes months, requires million-euro investments, and waste streams do not stop during this time – they accumulate. For this reason, today we see the result of long-accumulated problems.
The real question should not be why waste collection and sorting are delayed, but why so many electronics with batteries still end up in the mixed waste stream.
The numbers show not an isolated problem but a systemic gap. According to experts’ calculations, about 90 thousand tons of electrical and electronic equipment may be placed on the Lithuanian market annually. The paradox is that electronic waste is increasing every year, while the amount of collected and properly managed waste in Lithuania is decreasing. In waste management systems organized by Lithuanian manufacturers and importers, the properly collected and managed amounts were: in 2023 – 22.7 thousand tons, in 2024 – 21.7 thousand tons, in 2025 – 20.8 thousand tons of household-used electronic and household appliance waste.
This is less than a quarter. In other words, much less is collected and managed annually than required by legislation. Although there is an obligation to achieve a 65% collection rate, in reality, we do not reach even 25%. Where does the rest go? It remains in residents’ homes, storage rooms, enters the environment, or mixed municipal waste containers.
Electronics that enter other waste streams can cause fires – electric and electronic toys, electric toothbrushes, shavers, mobile phones, headphones, watches, remote controls, tablets and computers, electric tools, household scales, robot vacuum cleaners, wireless kitchen, lighting, medical devices, etc.
Advanced equipment is increasing, responsibility is not
The use of electronics and batteries is rapidly growing every year, but their collection system does not perform its function at the pace required by the increasing waste volumes. Until the most dangerous waste is collected before entering the mixed waste stream, we will be addressing not the causes of the problem but its consequences.
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It is often thought in society that the quality of waste management primarily depends on the work of waste managers. However, they are only the last link. The whole system starts with manufacturers and importers, who, according to the extended producer responsibility principle, must organize and finance the collection and management of electronic and battery waste.
When this link does not work, responsibility and financial burden are ultimately transferred to waste managers, municipalities, and residents. At the same time, opportunities to reuse products, recover valuable metals, create circular economy solutions, and reduce the risk of shadow activities are lost.
The waste crisis should not be seen as a one-time incident. If we continue to extinguish consequences instead of eliminating causes, after the next fire, we will again count overflowing containers, stopped sorting lines, and rising waste management costs.
The most important task today is to ensure that all manufacturers and importers genuinely fulfill their obligations and ensure financing for the collection of electronic and battery waste. Current regulations do not provide sufficient system funding and create conditions for unfair competition, where the whole society pays for the consequences of a non-functioning system.
The beginning of real changes could be unavoidable responsibility for market participants who do not fulfill their duties. The most important thing is not the size of the sanctions but their inevitability. Only then will electronics and batteries not end up in mixed waste containers but be collected and managed according to applicable requirements. A smoothly functioning electronic waste management system would mean fewer fires, a more stable waste management system, and lower waste management costs for residents.
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