To have thrown a bunch of smashed up old mobile phones in the bin

she didn't realise that kids battery operated toys had batteries in?????

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp81pe1p393o

The 1991 regulatory situation (from Wiki)

Provisions of the first directive
The 1991 battery Directive's "Article 3; MI; Annex I" stated the prohibition (with exceptions) of marketing:

1. Batteries on the market after 18 September 1992 with:
2. 1.A. more than 25 mg of mercury per cell, except alkaline manganese batteries
3. 1.B. more than 0.025% cadmium by weight
4. 1.C. more than 0.4% lead by weight
5. Alkaline manganese batteries placed on the market after 18 September 1992 containing more than 0.025% of mercury by weight
6. Batteries on the market after 1 January 1999 with more than 0.0005% mercury by weight[6]

Since battery recycling rates then were about 5% the directive sought to improve these rates. It set up recycling goals: separate collection and recycling, and provide recycling/collection information to the consumer. The responsibility for providing separated recycling collection was largely given to the manufacturers. Recycling requirements are found in Articles 4, 6, and 7.
There were marking provisions, including manufacturer responsibility for marking on the battery products themselves the contained substances and recycling information.

35 years ago

I would do the same. Forget it. 👍

The rules and labelling about never putting batteries in the bin have been around for at least 26 years (based on a job I started then). See also picking up dog mess and not dropping cigarette butts.

Hrrft but batteries have been around much longer than a decade, what do you think happened to batteries before that?

Lithium batteries causing fires is well known on recent years but I suspect your average Aaa isn't implicated the same way.

Sure plenty of toys with batteries still inside get into the bin. Yes your average Mn probably is aware evenif they dont actually recycle batteries, the outside world particularly 50+ may not be.

Some councils do make it quite clear that batteries can’t be binned.

This

🤣

I think the OP may believe they are exempt from looking at that or not understanding….

I mean, why read the instructions......? 😉

I'm sure someone else has already pointed this out, but to repeat, every single battery except the little coin shaped ones carries the symbol of a dustbin with an 'X' through it, indicating it must not be binned. So does battery packaging. So do mobile phones.

This is what Tesco say about their policy:

"Recycling your batteries

Tesco is part of a compliance scheme and offers battery-recycling points at Express, Metro, Superstore, and Extra stores. In 2020, 566.57 tons of batteries were collected in Tesco stores.
You can recycle all household batteries at our recycling points, including AAA, AA, C , D, 9 volt, button and those from appliances such as mobile phones, laptops, hearing aids, watches, cameras, cordless power tools, electric toothbrushes, razors, toys, burglar alarms, and hand-held vacuum cleaners.
Lead acid batteries from cars are not suitable for instore recycling points."

Our approach to managing waste from our UK operations

Unless your Tesco is not an Express, Metro, Superstore or Extra store*, you should ask the manager why they aren't following Tesco's own published policy

'* I don't have a local Tesco so no idea if there is another type of Tesco store, but 5 seems like plenty to me

it has nothing to do with the size of the store. If they sell more than the weight equivalent of 4 AA batteries a day, they must offer a recycling facility.

You should have recycled the phones

Send in post

Local rubbish tip (special box)

Send in post

Some supermarkets have a recycle box

This makes me really worried about planes and the batteries on them.

The irony.

I thought it was only large supermarkets and retailers like Curry's that had battery boxes, our Asda and Waitrose has them but I wouldn't expect one in an express store.

Ok!
so some jumped up know it all on the internet knows more about what the store has than the actual store itself 🤣🤣
🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

Every day is a school day as they say
Is it though? It doesn’t sound like absorbing information or being observant are your strong points.

Just how did you think batteries worked? Magic? Did your school not teach chemistry?

What about geography? Nothing coming to mind about minerals in the earths surface?

@PavementworrierDo you even keep up with current affairs? Trump (the president of the United States of America, just in case this too has passed you by) is interested in Greenland, any ideas why?

You clearly have a smartphone, a world of information in your pocket, and yet throughout this thread you have taken great pride in your own ignorance. What a waste of a brain.

Sure.

People have asked, which is why we know that they don’t have any where i live 🤣🤣

No!!
it does have Facebook pages where people ask questions on about things like this!!

Wrong!!
my local doesn’t have one!

I do the vast majority of my supermarket shopping online. I haven’t done a big shop in store since early 2020.

My occasional visits to larger stores are almost always spur of the moment while already out and about.

I will check out the little Tesco near me to see if they have a box. From what I have read here it is company policy although I haven’t noticed one.

To be fair I use very few batteries since my son has been at Uni.