Fire crews were called to Shieldhall Recycling Centre on Bogmoor Road around half past ten on Saturday morning on the 26th of September 2026, and three fire appliances plus a high reach vehicle spent close to six hours on the blaze.
People living nearby in Govan and Ibrox were told to keep their windows and doors shut while the smoke cleared, and crews didn’t stand down until around four that afternoon.
Nobody’s confirmed yet what started the fire at Shieldhall, but incidents like this show just how important it is that waste is handled and disposed of safely, from the moment it leaves your property to the moment it’s processed.
As a SEPA-registered waste carrier that handles household and commercial clearances across Scotland every day, the Junk-It team sees first-hand which items put collection crews at risk.
Here’s what we know about the Shieldhall Recycling Centre fire, and how safer disposal can help prevent incidents like this.
What’s known about the Shieldhall recycling centre fire
The cause of the fire hasn’t yet been confirmed.
On the same day, GMB Branch 40, the union representing cleansing staff across Glasgow’s waste depots, shared a statement on Facebook saying the fire highlights concerns members have raised for some time.
Waste sites are high-risk environments, and safety must remain a priority.
The union pointed towards the growing risk of fires from discarded lithium batteries, and the importance of protecting the workers who handle hazardous waste every day.
Whatever the cause of the fire, it is a stark reminder of how important safe waste disposal is, for the workers handling it, for the communities surrounding it, and for the environment.
How hazardous waste can start fires at recycling centres
While we don’t know what started the fire at Shieldhall Recycling Centre, fires at waste sites across the UK have often been linked to hazardous items that were never meant to be put in with general waste or mixed recycling.
Lithium-ion batteries are one of the biggest offenders, including those inside discarded vapes.
Glaswegians will remember the tragic fire that began in a vape shop on Union Street in March, which led to the collapse of the historic Union Corner building. Although its cause is under investigation, it still demonstrates the risks of lithium batteries.
Leftover flammable paint, aerosols that still contain flammable contents and gas canisters can also create a fire risk if they’re damaged during collection or processing.
These items can be easy to overlook in a bag of general junk unless someone is specifically checking for them.
Proper disposal matters long before anything reaches a site like Shieldhall. Batteries can catch fire if they’re damaged during collection or processing, so they need to be kept out of general waste from the start.
Why landfill fires can be difficult to put out
Fire crews spent nearly six hours tackling the blaze at Shieldhall, but fires at landfill sites can take weeks to bring under control.
When a fire spreads into buried waste at a landfill site, reaching the burning material can be difficult. Crews may need to excavate sections of waste to reach and extinguish the fire.
Some incidents take weeks to resolve.
At a landfill near Ladybank in Fife, firefighters worked for more than two weeks in May 2026.
Even after crews left, residents were advised that some light smoke or smouldering material could remain.
Keeping batteries and other fire hazards out of general waste helps reduce the risk to the people working at these sites and those living nearby.
How sorting your waste properly helps protect workers
You can help protect the people collecting and sorting your waste by checking what belongs in each bin before you start a clear-out.
Keep batteries and electrical items out of general waste and mixed recycling, including vapes, cordless power tools, laptops and old phones.
Check where they can be taken separately, even if they no longer switch on.
Your council’s website can help you find the rules for your area. Check what your chosen recycling centre accepts before travelling, particularly if you have paint, chemicals or gas canisters.
If you’re arranging a collection, tell the company about these items when you book.
Knowing what needs separate handling helps the team plan the collection and reduces the chance of hazardous items being hidden among the rest of your junk.
Check your waste collector’s SEPA registration
Before booking a collection, ask for the company’s registration number and check it through SEPA’s public register. This applies whether you’re hiring an established clearance company or a man with a van.
An independent collector can be properly registered, but a cheap quote is no substitute for checking. Always ask where your waste will go and whether the collector can accept the particular items you have.
If you are a business, once the collection’s done, your chosen company should provide a Waste Transfer Note. It records what was taken, who took it, and where it is going. It is proof you are using a registered carrier if anything goes wrong.
Paying someone to take your waste away doesn’t remove your responsibility to check who you’re handing it to.
If you haven’t made reasonable checks that the collector is properly registered and your waste is later fly-tipped, you could share liability and face enforcement action, even though someone else dumped it.
Arrange responsible junk removal with Junk-It
At Junk-It Scotland, we’re SEPA registered and sort collected items by hand to recover materials for reuse and recycling.
We recycle more than 85% of the waste we collect.
We also provide WEEE disposal for unwanted electrical and electronic equipment. Tell us what you need removed when you enquire, and check our restricted items list for anything that needs another disposal route.
If your garage, shed or office is ready for a clear-out, call us on 0141 433 4330 or get a free quote today. We’ll confirm what we can collect and handle the heavy lifting.
