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.

We can put batteries and small electrical devices on the top of our wheelie bins on bin day.

Blimey OP you’re coming across as a tad dim here! Why would you not recycle them?

Simple search:

Lithium battery fires in the UK are a rapidly growing danger, with UK fire brigades responding to over three incidents daily, primarily involving e-bikes and e-scooters, causing fatalities and serious injuries. These fires are fierce, fast-spreading, and release toxic fumes, often linked to damaged batteries, incompatible chargers, or faulty/counterfeit products bought online, especially when charging indoors or near escape routes. Key safety advice includes using manufacturer-approved chargers, unplugging devices, avoiding charging overnight or on flammable surfaces, and disposing of old batteries correctly.

Anyone who thinks recycling isn’t for them must want higher taxes 🤷‍♀️ fire brigade, clean ups, unnecessary ill health and more...

Oo what area does this?

Since 2010 it's been a legal requirement for any retailer that sells more than 32kg of portable batteries per year to have a battery recycling point.

I find it hard to believe you have gone 16 years without ever seeing a battery recycling bin. They are in supermarkets, newsagents, DIY stores, libraries, literally everywhere that sells batteries has to have one. Many workplaces have then too.
They have made it as convenient as possible for you to do. You don't need to go out of your way to take them to a tip. Just hang on to then until you have a few, then take them the next time you go to a shop.
Please don't put batteries in the bin.

At both my last workplaces there was a container to put batteries in so they could be recycled. Now that I'm retired I take my batteries to a recycling container at a local supermarket. Lithium batteries are especially dangerous if just thrown in a bin. How can anyone not be aware of this??

We can too. In north Wales.

We can too (South Oxfordshire) but I always forget, easier just to take them to work !

I love this but where I live and the winds recently they would end up all over the neighbourhood 😂 I’m scared to wheel the bins out as it is

You're very polite. She's coming across as thick as mince and ignorant as hell.

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...

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.

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

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

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,

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

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/

And public libraries.

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

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!

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.

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

I know right. As above I've got big communal bins and I'd have thought they'd put a sticker on them or something.

its worse than illegal, its bloody dangerous.

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.