Recycling & Waste Processing
Spot battery events and smoldering loads before they become facility fires
Avian watches tipping floors, conveyors, bunkers, bale storage, and outdoor piles 24/7 so your team can act on heat anomalies before smoke, flames, sprinkler activation, or an after-hours call from the fire department.
448 waste and recycling facility fires recorded in North America in 2025
Avian is configured around the zones where fires start: receiving, sorting, conveyors, bale storage, and outdoor stockpiles — built for the fact that the highest-risk event often happens after the shift ends.
448
publicly reported waste and recycling facility fires across the US and Canada in 2025 — the worst year on record since tracking began in 2016
$2.5B
estimated damages from waste and recycling facility fires in the US and Canada in 2025
Risk zones where a missed heat event gets expensive fast
Recycling fires rarely start as visible flames. They build as heat in the wrong place at the wrong time, often after hours and often before anyone on site can smell smoke.
Lithium-ion batteries
A single damaged cell in a mixed load can vent, ignite surrounding material, and turn a routine sort into a full facility response. Avian flags thermal runaway before it gets there.
Smoldering waste piles
Hotspots buried in organic material, mixed loads, or bale storage can smolder for hours and surface as smoke after the building has emptied out.
Conveyor friction and overheating
Bearings, rollers, and transfer points that overheat can spread fire through the line fast. PLC integration is available when your team wants heat events to trigger an automatic stop.
Outdoor yards and tipping floors
Receiving and storage zones are exposed to sun, dust, and weather — and hardest to supervise continuously. Thermal monitoring covers them around the clock.
Risk zones where a missed heat event gets expensive fast
Recycling fires rarely start as visible flames. They build as heat in the wrong place at the wrong time, often after hours and often before anyone on site can smell smoke.
Lithium-ion batteries
A single damaged cell in a mixed load can vent, ignite surrounding material, and turn a routine sort into a full facility response. Avian flags thermal runaway before it gets there.
Smoldering waste piles
Hotspots buried in organic material, mixed loads, or bale storage can smolder for hours and surface as smoke after the building has emptied out.
Conveyor friction and overheating
Bearings, rollers, and transfer points that overheat can spread fire through the line fast. PLC integration is available when your team wants heat events to trigger an automatic stop.
Outdoor yards and tipping floors
Receiving and storage zones are exposed to sun, dust, and weather — and hardest to supervise continuously. Thermal monitoring covers them around the clock.
From the field
Recent case studies
Combating the Lithium-Ion Threat: A New Standard for Recycling Plant Safety
There's a fire burning at a recycling facility right now. Statistically, there's probably several.
Why Recycling Facility Fires Happen at Night — And What to Do About It
The most dangerous hours at your facility are the ones where nobody is watching.
The Recycling Insurance Crisis: Why Your Next Fire Could Cost You More Than Your Facility
If you run a recycling or waste processing facility, your insurance renewal letter has probably given you a heart attack recently.
Our Recycling & Waste Package
Coverage, detection, and response in one system.
Built for facilities that need earlier warning on battery events, smoldering material, and equipment heat before those issues become fires or insurance problems.
Coverage
Cover the zones where recycling fires actually start
Pre-calibrated thermal cameras are deployed across tipping floors, sort lines, bunkers, bale storage, and outdoor yards, with layouts designed around your facility instead of a generic standard package.
Detection
Catch pre-ignition heat before smoke detectors ever help
Avian tracks thermal behavior across changing material streams so the system can identify abnormal heat in batteries, piles, and conveyor equipment before the event becomes visible fire.
Response
Give your team a documented response path after hours
Your team gets setup support, alerting, and ongoing tuning so high-temperature events can be escalated quickly, routed to the right people, and tied into operating procedures when the building is lightly staffed.