A refuse collector has called out residents who discard vapes and batteries in their recycling bins, warning that these items can pose a serious fire hazard. The binman, known as Ashley on TikTok, regularly shares waste-related insights and recently highlighted the issue in a video.
In the clip, Ashley lifts the lid of a dustbin to inspect its contents, only to turn back to his lorry without emptying it. He captioned the video: "When Karen has put vapes and batteries in her bin."
Fire risk from hidden batteries
Recycle Your Electricals has issued a warning about the dangers of binning electrical items with hidden batteries. The organisation stated: "When electricals containing hidden batteries like vapes are binned, they can get crushed or damaged and spark dangerous fires in bin lorries and recycling centres."
Last year, there were over 1,200 fires across the UK caused by binned vapes and electricals.
Proper battery disposal
For battery recycling, the government advises that most waste batteries can be taken to local supermarkets or other large shops that sell over 32 kg of batteries a year. These premises should have collection points for 'portable' batteries, including AAA, AA, and 9V batteries, battery packs, button batteries, and rechargeable batteries.
However, batteries that are part of a device and cannot be removed, such as those in calculators and e-cigarettes, should be treated as electrical products and recycled accordingly.
In response to Ashley's video, one TikTok user commented: "There's been 4 fires at my partners work in the past few days due to vapes." Another added: "Anything like that, I take it to my local recycling centre."
But not all reactions were supportive. A third user said: "Can’t seem to put nothing in your bin, need about 50 different bins and a college degree these days." A fourth expressed frustration: "Just empty the bin bro... it's not that deep. I don't care as long as my bin is emptied... the explosion will be nowhere near me, so I'll sleep soundly."
