There is a vanishingly small chance of your battery disposal box being the source of a fire in your house. The Fire Cause Analysis have reported one for sure, a

There is a vanishingly small chance of your battery disposal box being the source of a fire in your house. The Fire Cause Analysis have reported one for sure, and another possible in the years 2017 - 2022. Out of all the fires that is a small number. That said, Lithium Ion batteries in the "recycling pipeline" (usually E-waste pipeline) have been suspected as the source of a big increase in fires[1]. This isn't particularly surprising given that more and more electronics make those batteries not removable, and just exposure to air by lithium metal can cause it to catch fire (no current or spark required). So if you put a cell phone through a crusher, very good chance there will be a fire in the resulting waste slurry. I'm watching for legislation that requires all electronics sold to have removable batteries. Manufacturers will pitch that as "and now you can swap out the battery!" but it will be because of the disposal risk. [1] https://www.wastedive.com/news/high-number-of-facility-fires-in-2022-prompts-renewed-look-at-battery-recyc/645682/ https://www.wastedive.com/news/high-number-of-facility-fires...