Full Circle Lithium Extinguishes Persistent Landfill Battery Fire in Under Three Hours
Event summary
- Full Circle Lithium's FCL-X™ technology extinguished a persistent lithium-ion battery fire at an Evans County landfill in under three hours after conventional methods failed over three days.
- The incident highlights a growing crisis in the waste management industry, with lithium-ion battery fires rising sharply and no proven sector-wide suppression solution.
- The National Waste and Recycling Association estimates over 5,000 annual fires at U.S. recycling facilities, with a 41% increase in catastrophic losses over the past five years.
- 2025 saw a record 448 publicly reported lithium-ion battery fires in U.S. and Canadian waste facilities, a 26% increase over the 2016–2021 average.
The big picture
The Evans County incident underscores a critical gap in the waste management industry's ability to handle lithium-ion battery fires, which are becoming more frequent and costly. With conventional suppression methods proving ineffective, Full Circle Lithium's FCL-X™ technology positions itself as a potential category-defining solution. The scale of the problem—over 5,000 annual fires and rising insurance costs—presents a significant commercial opportunity for specialized fire suppression providers.
What we're watching
- Market Adoption
- How quickly Full Circle Lithium can scale FCL-X™ deployment across the 4,100 active landfill facilities in the U.S., given the lack of competing solutions.
- Regulatory Pressure
- Whether the U.S. EPA's classification of disposed lithium-ion batteries as hazardous waste will accelerate demand for specialized suppression technologies.
- Competitive Threat
- The pace at which larger, better-capitalized competitors enter the lithium-ion battery fire-fighting market, potentially disrupting Full Circle Lithium's first-mover advantage.