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.

They can also cause fires in the waste plants during any sorting that might occur.

Can confirm we recycle "this stuff" and it's pretty easy to do.

It's easy to destroy a laptop hard drive as long as you have the right screwdrivers to open it up - they often use the weird star shaped ones.

Take it out and physically damage it. The data will be unrecoverable.

If it's one of those small volunteer-run recycling places, they will probably happily open the laptop for you and allow you to take the hard drive out to keep it, destroy it or do whatever you like.

TBH though like others have said, unless you've secretly murdered a government agent and kept all the details on that laptop, you can get away with just formatting the hard drive, which you can do from the laptop itself if it still turns on. Only a data recovery expert would be able to get anything back from it after that and they won't bother unless you are someone with particularly interesting data.

Ah unfortunately not the case here The orange thing at the top is a rather stiff flap.

yeah that's unhelpful.....so not in shops where you live? I could see that being handy for stuff like vapes

I’m going to invest in a horse and cart and go door to door collecting old electricals and batteries for recycling. I’ll shout ‘any old ions’ and call the horse Hercules.

(We did have a rag and bone man come round when I was a kid).

You’re not going to bother recycling them in the future???? Batteries are seriously nasty things - have you seen any that have got old and started to leak and gone all crusty and white? Imagine that in the environment!!

Ok, I was about to defend you because I actually think councils do a terrible job of making it clear how serious batteries in the bin are.

BUT then you said this, so… 🙄

They still operate round her using trucks, its a very useful service. Mostly they want metal as that is where the money is but they ours will take mixed component products. The advertise on local facebook groups and list their waste disposal licences so you know that the bits they can't use won't end up dumped somewhere.

This is good - they should all do this as clearly some people don’t know

I think you could just take the hard drives out and just keep them maybe?

Isn't it this?

The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009

Your local authority will be responsible for enforcing it.

I’m sure not as many do as could / should but yes people do. There are battery recycling bins at most supermarkets. And small electric recycling for phones etc are fairly easy to find

Yes for sure. I mean there are battery recycling areas all over the place (in shops) but does every person know it's actually illegal to just chuck them in the rubbish?

I didn't.

I mean I do recycle mine, but I'm a bit of a recycling nerd. I still didn't know you can get fined/in trouble for chucking them in the waste bin though.

And I don't think I'm thick. 😆 No fucking comments you lot! 😂

@godmum56 Not on Facebook, but thanks for the thought. When there's enough I'll make a trip to the tip. I just think the council could fairly easily lower the barrier to recycling by offering - and publicising - an occasional kerbside collection. There's a local precedent: the annual pink sack collection for students' junk.

All shops that sell electricals and batteries have to offer recycling even if you didn't buy the item you are recycling from them. It's not onerous in the least.

Our waste collection provider sends us a reminder the night before bin collection day to put out the relevant bin for collection and the last few months they have been adding ‘batteries should never be put in your waste bin as they are a serious fire hazard’.

She’s already said she won’t,

we can put batteries in a clear bag on top of our recycling for collection. Check to see if you can too.

on recycling laptops and tablets and phones there are lots of charities who collect them and would be glad to have them.

Your local authority website will have a page detailing what you can and cannot put into different bins. General waste and recycling.

Like this - Your bins | ipswich.gov.uk

They should alos have a sepaprate page showing recycling sites for batteries and other electrical equipment.

Like this - Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) recycling locations | ipswich.gov.uk

But in my experience every supermarket and even corner shop has a special bin where you can rcycle batteries. I believe the law is that if a shop sells batteries (and what shop doesn't sell batteries) they have by law to provide a dedicated recycle bin.

Ask in your nearest local shop

Incidentally, if it's data security you're worried about then just whacking the hard drive with a hammer won't suffice, it needs to go through a metal shredder. Realistically you're probably fine if you successively run several different programs that write random characters over the whole drive.

I had no idea about this. I have never seen a battery recycling place in my life.

No you’re not. They get recycled.

🤣🤣🤣

Every main supermarket has them ! Usually on the side as you leave the store