Marine flares are important safety devices. Many people carry them in their boats to signal when they are in distress and make it easy for search and rescue services to find them. It is important to know that your flare will work when you need it to, so manufacturers put an expiry date on the flare showing when it is time to purchase new ones. When the time comes to replace flares it is important to dispose of them correctly or an important safety device can become a danger to people.
Isle of Anglesey County Council have just experienced the threat posed by irresponsible disposal of marine flares when a resident hid 5 expired marine flares in their bin used to collect green garden waste for composting.
“This is a totally irresponsible act that put many people in danger,” said Jonathan Eastwood, Acting Chief Waste Management Officer at the Council. “There are laws concerning how you dispose of marine flares and easy ways of disposing of them safely. Someone has not just put these accidentally into their rubbish bin, they have hidden them under a layer of green waste. The reason why this is illegal is that these flares could have gone off, hurting people, setting light to vehicles and equipment and damaging facilities.”
Marine flares are very safe when used and stored in the right way. Keith Bradford, Product Manager of Chemring Marine Ltd that manufacture flares for Pains Wessex, the largest supplier of flares in the UK and the world, was surprised to hear marine flares had been put in the bin. “Flares are built to rigorous specifications to keep people alive at sea. While they contain explosive materials they are constructed so they will not go off in a marine environment without deliberately activating them. This often means removing a cap and pulling a cord or lever to fire them. However they are not designed to go through a compactor or shredder found at recycling facilities and the act of crushing them or shredding them, even when they are out of date, could set them off,” he explained. “We encourage all our customers to dispose of out of date flares responsibly and the majority do. An out of date flare is not an inactive flare. It has an expiry date that tells the user they can be confident that the flare will work at sea. There is still sufficient life in the flare to cause damage if it is not disposed of correctly.”
There are a wide variety of marine distress flares from handheld flares to rocket flares. The rocket flares are designed to send a flare on a parachute to a height of 1000 feet that will burn for 40 seconds with the power of 30,000 candles, so it can be seen from 36 miles away. The brightness of the flare is created using compounds like magnesium and strontium nitrate, ensuring that the flare will not be put out easily by wind or rain. In a marine environment this is a real life saver, but in a recycling process facility it can be a danger.
Keen-eyed Alwyn Jones, the site Manager at Penhesgyn’s green waste recycling facility on Anglesey spotted the flares in the green waste as it was emptied onto the floor of the composting facility. “I was lucky to spot them and remove them as they were about to go through a shredder that could have set them off. The drivers of the vehicle were lucky as the flares had escaped being crushed in the compactor in the collection lorry. If the flares had been crushed and gone off they would have set light to the hydraulics and any dry materials creating a fire.”
Many people may not realise that it is illegal to put flares in their rubbish bin, let alone a green waste bin. In September last year part of a Hampshire Marina was closed off when a marine flare ignited in the back of a bin lorry during compaction. The fire and rescue service had to dump the rubbish on the ground to extinguish the fire and the yard had to be cordoned off by the police.
So, how should you dispose of marine flares? Commercial boats often use the disposal service offered by the manufacturers, but this is geared towards disposing of large quantities and may be expensive. Some boat chandlers may have take back schemes that will dispose of your out of date flares when you go to buy new ones. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) also has a scheme to dispose of flares safely and legally. People wishing to dispose of flares through this scheme should contact HM Coastguard to arrange an appointment. Information on the MCA scheme and the contact details can be found on the following website: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAndTransport/Boatingandtravellingbywater/Usingpleasurecraftsafely/DG_185790
Isle of Anglesey County Council is investigating how marine flares have been put into the green waste recycling scheme. “This illegal disposal of marine flares constitutes fly tipping of explosives. The person who has done this deliberately hid the flares in a bin destined for a composting facility endangering all the people who work there and transport material to this facility,” explains Jonathan Eastwood. Mr Bradford agrees, “It is important to note that distress signals will not usually activate without being armed and fired, but compaction and shredding of flares presents a real hazard.”
“It is important that people recognise their responsibilities with regard to the disposing of marine flares responsibly and legally,” concludes Jonathan.
