The Government is seeking a local method for dealing with the “challenging and expensive” removal of the potentially hazardous lithium batteries that drive the island’s increasing numbers of electric vehicles.

A request for information issued by the Ministry of Public Works and Environment is calling for proposals to bring a battery-shredding service to the island — enabling the devices to be taken apart and made safe for shipping.

The ministry said old batteries were sent to North America for disposal but two industry sources, who asked to be anonymous, told The Royal Gazette that it was more typical for dealerships to be left holding the batteries.

“We’ve been told that the official government stance right now is for us to hang on them, so we strip them down and stack them,” one said. “There’s nowhere to send them at the moment.

“The idea of shredding is breaking the batteries down to their components. There’s precious metals inside them.

“But at this point, if you’re talking about being good for the environment, they shouldn’t be shredded. Ideally, someone could take them and turn them into storage batteries. I think that would be the way to do it — there’s a niche there for someone.”

The number of electric vehicles in Bermuda has been increasing steadily, presenting a disposal challenge as vehicles age and break down.

Electric Twizy minicars arrived on the island’s roads in 2017 and the Government began to switch public buses to electric models in 2022, which outnumbered diesel buses by 70 to 40 last year.

The Government also announced in 2022 that it aimed to phase out internal combustion engines by 2035.

The shredding facility for lithium-ion batteries would need to start with a capacity of 100 metric tonnes per year as of 2030, rising to 500 tonnes annually by 2045. The request said it would have to accommodate battery sizes from 0.5 kWh to 255 kWh.

The request said that the Department of Works and Engineering had received 1,200lb of “small lithium-ion batteries” for consumer electronics, along with 55,000lb of alkaline batteries and 7,500lb of nickel-cadmium batteries.

A second industry source said: “We have nowhere to dispose of the car batteries at the moment, so if I have a write-off of an electric car, I have no idea what to do with the battery or where to send it.

“And yet they’re putting them on our roads as fast as they can by subsidising them. There’s zero duty on electric cars, so I think they’ve put the cart before the horse on these things.”

The source said insurance for shipping was likely to rise because the batteries in some cases were prone to catching fire.

“If one of them goes up in flames, the fire department can’t put it out,” they added. “The problem with them is that they can burn under water.”

They cited the example of the cargo ship Morning Midas, which sank off the coast of Alaska in June after a fire broke out in the deck carrying electrical vehicles.

Glen Smith, of Auto Solutions, said the industry in Bermuda was still developing, with hybrid vehicles gaining traction.

“With the technology of the cars, it was one big slab for a battery,” he said. “Now cars have different battery cells. A faulty cell can just be replaced. It brings the battery back to life. It mitigates having to put in a whole new battery.”

Mr Smith said imported vehicles came equipped with batteries consisting of six to eight cells.

He added: “If a defective battery necessitates the replacement of all cells that make up the battery, this situation would be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty.

“Regarding shipping, the process will involve contacting the manufacturer to obtain specific instructions for packaging the cells for return via an ocean container.”

According to the request for information, lithium-ion batteries can be subject to hazardous materials regulations, requiring special packaging and hazard labelling.

Disposal options for batteries were complicated this year by amendments to the Basel Convention on the control of “transboundary movements of hazardous wastes and their disposal”.

Starting on January 1 this year, the convention required “prior written consent of the importing country and any transit countries — ie, countries shipments may pass through before arrival in the importing country — for international shipments of electrical and electronic waste and scrap, for recovery including recycling or disposal”, the request stated.

“This marks the first time that non-hazardous e-waste and scrap are controlled under the Basle Convention.”

The request for information, issued on Friday, comes with an August 25 deadline for questions and a submission deadline of 5pm on September 19.

The RFI is intended to “gauge interest and gather relevant information from entities that can provide battery shredding products and services”.

The document noted that electric vehicles dominated the bus and rental fleet and that the Government was considering an electric vehicle import requirement policy for other types of vehicles such as “two-wheelers, passenger cars and heavier commercial vehicles”.

Battery disposal and recycling had been flagged up as “a primary concern” from consultations, with the Government seeking to develop “a safe disposal and recycling facility” for all batteries coming to the end of their working life on the island.

Electronic vehicles were expected to make up the majority of shredding needs but other types such as consumer electronics were under consideration for disposal.

The Ministry of Public Works and Environment has been approached for comment.