CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – The Rivanna Solid Waste Authority has begun a lithium battery disposal site at the Ivy Solid Waste and Recycling Center, the organization announced on Monday.

Westley Kern, the Rivanna Authorities Communication and Outreach Coordinator told Cville Right Now the new site gives residents of Charlottesville, Albemarle County and Scottsville an opportunity to remove a fire hazard from their homes.

Lithium batteries are popular because they’re often lightweight, rechargeable, and capable of storing large amounts of energy, but when discarded incorrectly, they can ignite into dangerous fires, according to the release.

“If they get crushed or scraped, they can experience what we call thermal runaway,” Kern said. “They can spike rapidly in temperature from just over 200-degrees Fahrenheit all the way up to 1800-degrees, creating a substantial fire hazard in the home.”

When possible, lithium batteries should be removed from the devices they serve before bringing it into the facility.

However, if the lithium battery cannot be easily accessed or removed, the entire device can be turned in with the battery still installed, provided it fits inside a standard 5-gallon bucket, which are provided at the site.

RSWA has a new fire-resistant building constructed for this purpose.

When the consumer brings the item, Kern said will take it, tape the contract lead on and then bring it inside the fire-resistant building.

RSWA is contracted with Arcwood Environmental, who picks the batteries up and takes them away. Arcwood is contracted with Battery Recycling Made Easy, based in Georgia, TOXCO, Inc. of Baltimore, Md, and Metal Conversion Technologies from Cartersville, Ga.

“They will provide whatever recycling services they can with these disposed of batteries,” Kern said.

Arcwood also helps with RSWA’s household hazardous waste as well as e-waste collection events.

The first year of this program will cost RSWA $135,000, and there’s no cost to the consumer bringing the waste in, according to Kern.

Lithium-based batteries are typically marked as “Lithium,” “Li-ion” or with specific codes that start with the letters “CR” or “RCR.” Any batteries with IATA Class 9 Labels generally contain lithium as well, according to the RSWA.

Lithium batteries are common in many household electronics, including smartphones, laptops, power tools and more.