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

[Pavementworrier]

Sims removed but otherwise just as they were

I'd been keeping of them to "destroy securely" but they're driving me insane around the house so enough was enough

Will I get digitally kidnapped now? They were really old and shit phones.

Looking at some of your updates, I presume you are the type of person that dumps items on the floor by charity collection bins, ignoring the signs telling you not to do it.

I know someone who very unfortunately had a house fire while she was at work which started in the kitchen drawer they’d kept loose batteries in. The fire investigation officer said that the positive and negative ends had touched and created a spark which started the fire. He said that batteries should NEVER be stored loose in a drawer/cupboard etc…
Sadly their much loved cat died, they lost many sentimental personal items and they weren’t able to move home for over 6 months.
I have been vigilant ever since to dispose of batteries safely and I don’t keep them in the house (we have a fireproof shed).

DH is telling me it's the Falklands. If he's right he's going to be bloody unbearably smug.

You can tell him what you wish (but he's right - sorry!)

how have you missed it?

Then why are 2/3 of batteries still not recycled?

Because of people like you.

Brilliant, just brilliant.

I’ve genuinely never seen it shared, never seen a TV advert or a notice on a billboard or had anything through my door from the local council and nothing on the bins or council website. I’ve got the waste and recycling collection calendar from the council which tells you what goes in which bin and just had a look and it doesn’t mention batteries at all. Just done a google search for ‘MyArea batteries bins’ and there is nothing on the website about batteries being dangerous and illegal to put in bins, although I can see a neighbouring council does mention the risk of lithium batteries catching fire on their website. I’m sure there are some councils which have widely shared this but it really doesn’t seem like mine has and I’ve never seen it shared on anything nationally either. Anyway, at least now I know!!

Damn it. I might tell him you said Haiti.

Oh my god that’s terrifying. Thank you for sharing - I’m off to check I don’t have any unpackaged batteries rolling around.

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity, " Martin Luther King Jnr.

Haiti. There I said it.

I live in a block of flats. Everything goes in the black bin bag which I change everyday. I walks out batteries in there. Broken toasters, kettles, microwaves, vacuum cleaner. Anything that breaks that can fit in the big bin.

The only thing I would recycle is if I had a big cardboard box. This is because there is no where to store this recycling rubbish. Currently in temporary accommodation and it’s overcrowded. I don’t want bags of crap waiting to be taken to the recycling centre.

No, you are not smart, and you come across as very selfish.

That number may well improve now they have banned single use vapes.

It’s just my personal opinion but the 1/3 is probably the majority and the 2/3 is the minority. Just my opinion again but those who are antisocial and don’t give a hoot about society are probably more likely to vape a lot and chuck those vapes on the floor. The normal person is changing the odd kids toy and torch and the vaper is/was going through several disposal vapes per day/week.

I just listened to Burn the Witch by Queens of the Stoneage and Lithium by Nirvana back to back. Spooky!

This is just clickbait. The OP is obviously being deliberately obtuse and awkward just to upset and cause a reaction. EVERYONE knows you should recycle batteries unless she has been living under a stone.

You're entitled to your opinion ofc. It's my opinion that people without much about them like to make a huge self righteous song and dance about issues like this (while simultaneously doing plenty of far more deleterious things in their own lives).

I’m usually fairly clued in on sustainability and recycling, and I’ve seen the battery recycling bins in the supermarket. But I didn’t realize it was illegal or unsafe to stick used batteries in the ordinary bin, I guess because that’s what I grew up doing.

Having read this thread, I won’t do that any more. Thanks to PP (and indirectly to OP!) for educating me.

When it comes to electrical appliances, yes I know about the crossed-out bin symbols, but again I had no idea it was a strict requirement (presumably only for electronics rather than electricals?). In the city where I live, you have to book a slot online at the tip, then take the items there in your car (not a van). There are no other options listed on the council website, and you certainly can’t leave things on top of the wheelie bin. I don’t have access to a car, so I will continue to store old/broken irons, toasters and mobile phones to gather dust in a cupboard…

Because people like you are too lazy to bother and pretend they don’t know

And yet you posted a recycling/rubbish disposal question on here and asked for opinions. (The focus on batteries is only a part of the whole.)

It was data security question. I think that recycling is largely a distraction for people in need of meaning in the absence of God.

Of course it is.

You don't need a god in order to have meaning in your life. I'd rather live in, and care for, the real world than pretend there'll be something better when I die.