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

Wow! Honestly I had no idea and throw regular batteries away fairly regularly. Definitely will make an effort to remember not to moving forward. Am surprised this isn’t more widely shared though - my wheelie bin says ‘no hot ashes’ on it but no mention of batteries!

You're an idiot.
The chemicals will leach into the ground, might poison ground water reservoirs. Irresponsible and pathetic.

There’s no where in my village to recycle anything apart from plastic/tins/glass & papers which a lorry comes round and collects

Do you never go in in a supermarket, have you never seen the large containers for battery recycling? They always have batteries I

Of course people recycle them, in my area you can even put them out with the regular recycling, it's a bit knobbish not to bother when it so easy

Every electrical item (including batteries) sold in EU/UK over the last 15 years or so has had a picture of a crossed out wheelie bin on it, so I did think it was common knowledge not to throw batteries or old electrical items in the bin. IIRC everywhere that sells electrical items must take them back for recycling (and not only their own, but any). Lithium ion batteries are particularly dangerous, you really don't want them hanging around in your house past their useful lifespan. You can google "lithium ion battery fire" or "old phone caught fire" if you like nightmares. They burn much hotter than other fuels and are extremely difficult to put out.

But OTOH all the wailing and gnashing of teeth is a bit much. It's done and the chances of a bin lorry fire or anyone noticing to send her a fine are very small. And all the telling OP to bash it with a hammer is silly - at least take the battery out if you're planning to do this. Aged lithium ion batteries are bad enough without damaging them on purpose, that will just make them even more unstable.

I remember there being a big hoo haa when this was first brought in about sex toys, because nobody wants to hand them over to someone at a recycling point. All the big sites at that point decreed that you could send your old toys to them in the post to save embarrassment and receive a voucher for a new one in exchange

I am maybe naive but I thought everyone now always recycled batteries, electronics, etc?

Shops that sell batteries are obligated to have battery recycling bins - municipal recycling centres also have them.

From what I've seen, all types of batteries are accepted.

Would that be like putting a sticker on a microwave saying ‘Do not dry damp small dogs in this appliance’?

I knew you were meant to recycle batteries and electronics but I didn’t know they can cause fires. I imagine loads of people do bin these things but YABU.

its worse than illegal, its bloody dangerous.

I knew that from when I was little and i am 48 now. I just asked my teens what would with used batteries and small electrical and they both said recycling. I asked them when dod you first heard about it and they said “since forever”.

a lot of posters have posted links on legislation and you re still asking. I think you re as smart as you think you are or at least not really educated. I think you should really be ashamed of yourself.

now i am cross with myself because I am engaging with stupidity

most local phone repair shops will take old phones, tablets, laptops and so on free of charge. I think they get a very small amount from a materials recovery company. I too am shocked that no one knows about safe disposal of batteries, there were so many items on TV up to and over christmas about it. Every single shop whicvh sells batteries MUST take used ones back for recycling and they don't have to have been purchased there. And I see myself as a very lackadaisical recycler.

Wow, I had no idea it was illegal to bin batteries either! I knew there were battery bins in supermarkets but thought this was just for environmental reasons, I didn’t think it was any worse to bin batteries over recycling them than it was to bin a plastic bottle or tin can instead of recycling. I throw batteries in the main bin all the time! Have also thrown away phones although like the OP I’m a bit more wary of doing this due to the data stored in phones but wouldn’t occur to me to worry about the battery! I guess you learn something new every day and I will try to remember not to bin batteries in future!

My local Lidl and Sainsbury's have battery bins. Might be worth checking?

And public libraries.

If you can't be convinced by the environmental or safety arguments, how about financial arguments? This briefing suggests that the increase in battery related fires is now costing UK around £1billion each year. https://www.letsrecycle.com/news/esa-battery-fires-reaching-epidemic-levels/

Well no they don’t, that’s why we’ve fucked our environment. 👏🏻😣Never mind,

Potential penalties

• Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs): Councils can issue these for serious or repeated breaches, with amounts often £60–£200, but fines can be unlimited in extreme cases for non-compliance with waste laws.
• Warnings First: Often, councils will first issue warnings or place notices on bins for incorrect waste before moving to fines,

Slightly have a crush on you now. Not gonna lie...

You worry about the wrong things… batteries can leak toxic substances into the soils, fire risk for refuse collectors, can get into our water…. Yet your future self will still bin batteries…. The world is doomed

Your phone should not go in the bin - The quicker we start getting fined for doing stupid things like this the better.

You should be ashamed.

OP: you're coming across as extremely arrogant, and selfish-as-fuck.

You keep saying that your ignorance is not your fault, suggesting that there should be more publicity about this. Every single local authority in the country produces leaflets explaining what can be recycled and how/where to do it, and delivers this info to each household every year.

Multiple posters have now tried to educate you about this issue, so ignorance is no longer an excuse. But you've just said 'fuck you' to everyone and told us all that despite now knowing that batteries & electrical gadgets are supposed to be recycled, you're still not going to bother doing it in future.

I sincerely hope that if you have children, they've had the opportunity to learn from someone other than you how to treat the world around them.

I suppose you're also one of those people who toss litter out of car windows? Leave dog-shit in children's play areas? Park your car on pavements? Burn painted wood and foam furniture on a bonfire in your back yard? All things which cause real harm to humans and other animals, and are illegal, but anti-social fuckwits like yourself continue to do...