(Radio Iowa) – As electronics and toys are upgraded this holiday season, officials with landfills and recycling centers across Iowa are particularly worried about what happens to the old stuff. An E-P-A report says household waste increases by about 25-percent between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Alongside food and cardboard packaging, a lot of what winds up curbside contains rechargeable batteries. John Foster, the solid waste administrator for Black Hawk County, says the uptick in improperly disposed batteries creates dangerous headaches for landfills.

“The issue we run into is those are heavy metal batteries that are typically in there,” Foster says, “so as they break open or as they’re exposed to oxygen and water, they’ll heat up and they’ll cause fires.” He says that in addition to the seasonal increase in household waste, disposal sites are under additional stress because of those improperly disposed rechargeable batteries.

“Whether it’s at a recycling facility or a landfill, as those batteries break open, they’ll kind of start a fire,” Foster says, “and with a lot of combustible material around it, just a little fire can turn into a big fire pretty quick.” Foster also says fires caused by improper disposals are amplified by the prolonged drought, as his landfill has been putting out several small fires a week on average.