Friday 01 April 2022
Every household will receive a leaflet over the next few days as part of Guernsey Waste's ongoing 'Check before you chuck - don't leave it to luck' campaign, which highlights the importance of disposing of dangerous household items correctly.
The leaflet provides important information on how and where to dispose of these items which includes batteries, digital cameras, e-cigarettes, electronic items, flares, gas canisters, laptops, and mobile phones.
Contracts and compliance manager Rachel Scally said it is a very important message and these items should never be disposed of in household recycling or general waste bags.
'Guernsey Waste wants to make sure every islander is aware of the dangers and knows how to dispose of these items correctly. So rather than just rely on the information only being available online www.gov.gg/checkb4uchuck, which may not be accessible for everyone, leaflets are being delivered to every household.
While such items were not commonplace in waste and recycling, we have had almost 30 separate fire incidents at the waste transfer station at Longue Hougue over the past three years.
Fortunately, none of these resulted in serious injury or damage because our fire suppression systems managed to extinguish them. However, we have been lucky so far, because these items could have ignited or explode at any point from when they were collected through to being processed.'
Most of the items can be taken free of charge to the Longue Hougue Waste and Recycling Centre, except for flares which can be dropped off at the following marine traders (A B Marine, Boatworks+, Marine & General Chandlery or Sunsport Marine) or hand them into the Police Station so they can be safely disposed of.
In addition, batteries can be recycled free of charge at Co-op Grand Marche Stores, Aladdin's Cave, Waitrose and all schools.
For information about the Longue Hougue Household Waste & Recycling Centre, including opening times, go to www.gov.gg/hwrc or contact Guernsey Waste recycle@gov.gg or call 221234.
Information on how to dispose of waste from commercial businesses can be found at www.gov.gg/commercialwaste.
