Leading Recycling equipment Manufacturer Choose Fireward Automatic Fire Suppression

The very real risk of fires within the recycling sector is obvious but the UKs leading manufacturer of waste balers and recycling equipment, Presona, have recognised a worrying increase in reports of fires breaking out within the recycling industry.

Richard Portas of Presona explains, “With an increasing number of Lithium-ion batteries found in household items, more and more are inevitably finding their way through the recycling process. It’s not surprising the number of fires within the recycling industry and waste sites is increasing.” According to a 2021 report by Eunomia Research and Consulting and the Environmental Services Association (ESA), Lithium-ion batteries are responsible for around 48% of all waste fires that occur in the UK each year, this costs the UK economy a whopping £158 million annually.

The report details that an estimated 201 waste fires caused by Lithium-ion batteries occur every year in the UK, which pose potentially disastrous consequences to human life, businesses and the environment. It’s this increasing statistic that encouraged Presona to think about fire suppression.

Unquestionably it is the joint responsibility of individuals and the waste management sites to help reduce the likelihood and frequency of fires. To help reduce the potential impact on safety, health, the environment, property and business, Presona were keen to help reduce this risk from the minute they supply and install one of their machines on site.

“We thought there must be something we can do to help reduce this number and prevent such fires, so we began looking at fire suppression”, explains Richard. “We looked around and looked extensively into options on the market, which is where we came across Fireward. Talking to the team at Fireward, their experience and knowledge really stood out. They walked us through what they could provide and how they can provide fire suppression made specifically for our machines. Their reputation within the industry was strong and by this point we knew we had found the solution we were looking for.”

As the UKs leading suppliers of baling and conveyor equipment, Presona began a collaboration with Fireward to supply reliable and effective automatic fire suppression systems alongside their recycling equipment. Presona brand their offering Supressa™. “The automatic fire suppression has been very well received by our customers, some of which are big names within the industry such as Tesco and ASDA. Their conveyors and systems run for long periods and the environments in which our machines operate provide the perfect environment for fires to start. It’s fantastic to see such companies taking steps to reduce the risk of fire within their plants. There is a lot of interest around the systems and the benefits they bring”, says Richard.

Fireward are the UK’s leading fire suppression provider, the world’s first to be certified to the global fire suppression standard P Mark 199. Fireward provide systems for most applications with several agent options and are dedicated to designing and installing only the best and most reliable fire suppression systems, detecting fires immediately and extinguishing them before they can start to cause damage. Headquartered in Chelmsford, the company operates across the UK working closely with both OEMs and dealers alike offering a whole range of systems for every sector. Offering companies peace of mind, Mark Scutt, Fireward Sales Director adds, “The beauty of our systems is that they are on all of the time and without any need for any power, it’s a 24/7 safe pair of hands for anybody that has a system fixed to an asset and some of these assets cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.”

It is likely that the risk of and the number of fires within waste recycling plants will continue to increase, given the increasing use of Lithium-ion batteries. That being said, Presona and Fireward are proud to offer a solution to their customers to aid in the quest of reducing the impact and risk of fires. Richard explains, “Fire suppression is a small price to pay to save lives and businesses. It offers peace of mind and is a key safety feature that is proven to protect individuals from injury or death and businesses from closure and loss.”