Linwood recycling centre went up in flames on 23 June, Scotland’s second in just a few months.
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00:00On the evening of Sunday the 23rd of June, firefighters were called to an electrical
00:04and battery recycling facility near Glasgow to reports of a large-scale fire.
00:09As thick black smoke filled the sky and eyewitnesses reported a chemical smell
00:14and loud explosions, Police Scotland Renfrewshire advised local residents to keep windows and doors
00:20closed, while First Minister John Swinney said he was very concerned. This comes just months after
00:26the fire service tackled a similar incident in Kilwinning. A chemical and engineering professor
00:31from Strathclyde University said the reason there has been a rise in these fires is because
00:35batteries are becoming more powerful amid a rise in demand for portable electronics,
00:40electronic vehicles and renewable energy. They warned that we need to have a more strategic plan
00:46to recycle these batteries at the end of their life because incidents such as this one will cause
00:51chemicals to be released which are extremely dangerous to us and the environment. At present
00:57there is no standard for disposal.