A recycling truck has gone up in flames in Bittern, with Mornington Peninsula Shire blaming lithium batteries wrongly tossed into a kerbside recycling bin.
The Shire says the fire broke out at 10:15am on Skinner Street on 12 February 2026. With no time to reach open ground safely, the CFA directed the driver to dump the truck’s load in the residential street, before emergency crews moved in to put the fire out.
It is the second recycling truck fire on the Mornington Peninsula this month, after an earlier blaze in Mount Martha on 5 February 2026.
“Deeply concerning”: Shire warns it could have ended very differently
Acting Mayor Cr Paul Pingiaro said the repeat incidents were “deeply concerning”, warning the fires put waste collection workers and the wider community at risk.
Warringine councillor Cr Michael Stephens said residents were lucky no one was hurt, describing Skinner Street as a family neighbourhood and urging locals to keep hazardous items out of household bins.
Mount Martha fire sparked earlier this month
In the Mount Martha incident on 5 February, the Shire says the driver spotted smoke shortly before 8am, called emergency services, and followed advice to take the burning load to Ferrero Reserve, where fire crews were waiting.
At the time, the Shire said a battery was suspected but not confirmed, with contaminated material taken to landfill and the site cleaned.
What residents are being told to do now
The Shire says only the following items should go in the recycling bin:
- Empty kitchen and laundry containers (rinsed if needed)
- Paper and cardboard
- Loose items only (no bags)
It also warned that batteries (including embedded lithium batteries), vapes, gas bottles and other hazardous waste should never go in household bins, and should be taken to approved drop-off points including resource recovery centres.
The Shire said it would contact the household whose bin contained the lithium batteries linked to the Bittern fire to provide education on safe disposal.
