Powerbank purchase and recycling

[LadyG]

I have a car starter type powerbank, maybe seven years old, it has now died. I had a look inside and it's all soldered joints so it's not easy to replace battery.

I've never needed to start the boat, it would seem unlikely I need to replace like with like.

I can get something off Amazon, it's handy to have something portable to top up the phone etc. The last cheapie powerbank , a present, lasted just a few months.

What is the best way to recycle these gadgets, I am thinking the battery bins in supermarkets.

Also, I have taken to recycling my clean litter via LA litter bins as I think it is the best route to a recycling centre where pickers have the job of identifying things like balls of aluminium foil, and other things not easily sorted mechanically . The state of most Biffa bins indicate that a lot of stuff would get contaminated en route to the recycling centre 

[Feeby100]

You could take it to the local tip they have battery section to put stuff like that

[Jen-in-Wellies]

18 minutes ago, Feeby100 said:

You could take it to the local tip they have battery section to put stuff like that

This^^^^^. Supermarket battery bins typically say they are for removable batteries only. (AA, AAA etc), not built in batteries, like @LadyG's powerpack. Your local tip recycling centre, can take any electrical gadgets, including ones with batteries. You shouldn't be putting electrical stuff in the general waste bin anyway.

 

28 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I've never needed to start the boat, it would seem unlikely I need to replace like with like.

Boat starter batteries have easy lives. The first on my boat lasted ten years. Just get a set of jump leads, so it can be started from the house batteries, till it can be replaced. If you have a 1,2,both isolator switch, then that can be used instead. If your house batteries are too low to start the engine, then jump leads can be used to start from a friendly passing boat.

[LadyG]

2 hours ago, Feeby100 said:

You could take it to the local tip they have battery section to put stuff like that

I could, in theory, but they are usually located in isolated locations, no one is going to hire a taxi to visit a recycling centre, it does not make sense. Anyway, I'm not convinced the LA have any sort of quality control or quality assurance, it's unlikely.

I also have lots of glass bottles, hoping to find some bins at the pub, the CRT refuse bins are unpredictable, and I'm not convinced they have a recycling policy. 

Edited November 16, 2022 by LadyG

[philjw]

32 minutes ago, LadyG said:

3 hours ago, Feeby100 said:

 

I could, in theory, but they are usually located in isolated locations, no one is going to hire a taxi to visit a recycling centre, it does not m sense

Depending how much the battery weighs it could make sense to take it to a scrap metal merchant. The last set of leisure batteries (4 x115 Ah) paid out nearly £50 in Daventry.  If you do this take photo ID and your bank details.  Or maybe a local scrap merchant could collect from you?

[LadyG]

It weighs about 12 ounces

[philjw]

2 minutes ago, LadyG said:

It weighs about 12 ounces

And that was meant to start a car?

[Alan de Enfield]

2 minutes ago, philjw said:

And that was meant to start a car?

 

Scalextrix ?

[LadyG]

It did, as far as I can recall, it was a diesel van. 

Lithium 

[Jess--]

It's a fairly common contractors trick to use an 18v drill battery to jump start a vehicle with a low battery (i.e dead cell in battery)

I wasn't convinced when I first saw it done on a transit, 30 seconds took it from being unable to turn the engine over to starting with no issues

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, Jess-- said:

It's a fairly common contractors trick to use an 18v drill battery to jump start a vehicle with a low battery (i.e dead cell in battery)

I wasn't convinced when I first saw it done on a transit, 30 seconds took it from being unable to turn the engine over to starting with no issues

 

We have talked about this area a number of times before. Despite the high currants concerned the duration for which it is drawn is measured in seconds, so the Ah needed is very low (hence boat start batteries always being near fully charged).  If you p the voltage a bit (like 18 volts) the engine spins faster so starts sooner.

[Tracy D'arth]

I gave up recycling when I discovered that most of it goes to landfill anyway because it is "contaminated" i.e. can't be bothered to sort it.

Glass gets crushed in and used as roadways in the tips.

If recycling materials were of any value the tinkers and pikies would be stealing it.

Recycle metals and batteries.They have a reuse ad infinitum.

Last I heard of printed paper was when the scouts had paper drives. That all stopped in the '70s because it was costing us £15 a ton to send it to Italy and getting nothing for it.

[ditchcrawler]

14 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I gave up recycling when I discovered that most of it goes to landfill anyway because it is "contaminated" i.e. can't be bothered to sort it.

Glass gets crushed in and used as roadways in the tips.

If recycling materials were of any value the tinkers and pikies would be stealing it.

Recycle metals and batteries.They have a reuse ad infinitum.

Last I heard of printed paper was when the scouts had paper drives. That all stopped in the '70s because it was costing us £15 a ton to send it to Italy and getting nothing for it.

Lots of recycling does get carried out, not for the value of what is recovered but the savings from not dumping it. even stuff going to incineration has to be sorted. There is a plant near me and you wouldn't believe what comes out of recycle bins, bricks, concrete lintels, car parts. A lot of hand sorting goes on, not a job I would want.

[Stilllearning]

5 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Lots of recycling does get carried out, not for the value of what is recovered but the savings from not dumping it. even stuff going to incineration has to be sorted. There is a plant near me and you wouldn't believe what comes out of recycle bins, bricks, concrete lintels, car parts. A lot of hand sorting goes on, not a job I would want.

A huge amount of recycling goes on here, either as front door refuse collection, the local recycling bins, for paper,  cardboard, all domestic packaging, bottles.

The local tip takes garden waste,  building waste, metals, wood, all batteries, electrical items, chemical/paint waste, etc.

If this doesn’t happen where you are, you should ask your local authority why not. As a customer said to me just last week, the tips are there so that fly tipping doesn’t happen.

[Tony Brooks]

24 minutes ago, Stilllearning said:

A huge amount of recycling goes on here, either as front door refuse collection, the local recycling bins, for paper,  cardboard, all domestic packaging, bottles.

The local tip takes garden waste,  building waste, metals, wood, all batteries, electrical items, chemical/paint waste, etc.

If this doesn’t happen where you are, you should ask your local authority why not. As a customer said to me just last week, the tips are there so that fly tipping doesn’t happen.

 

Really? What with £5 to dispose of a toilet pan or wash basin, goodness knows how much for DIY rubble in silly little sacks or plaster board. Then there is only attend by appointment and in an acceptable vehicle that does not include on foot or on a cycle. You must sort your scrap metal into types and so on. You also need to display a badge on the windscreen and bring documents to prove that you live in the Borough. The councils will deny it but they are an active party to fly tipping.

Edited November 17, 2022 by Tony Brooks

[Stilllearning]

4 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Really? What with £5 to dispose of a toilet pan or wash basin, goodness knows how much for DIY rubble in silly little sacks or plaster board. Then there is only attend by appointment and in an acceptable vehicle that does not include on foot or on a cycle. You must sort your scrap metal into types and so on. You also need to display a badge on the windscreen and bring documents to prove that you live in the Borough. The councils will deny it but they are an active party to fly tipping.

Yes, it’s another reason for living where we do. 

On the day you buy a house here you get given a document to take to the local tip to prove that you own a house in the area so you can dispose of any left over rubbish from the previous owner, and to be able to recycle  the packaging that your belongings arrived in. At the same time you apply for a smart card that gives you access to the tip in the future, I think the annual fee for all this is €175 and worth every centime.

[pete.i]

You people are living in cloud cuckoo land. I bet you all drive or will drive electric cars, oh no you wont because you wont be able to charge them because the grid wont be able to cope. As for "ask your local authority and if not why not" what an absolutely laughable suggestion. Most of the people in local authority don't give a damn. Most recycling goes into the land and what doesn't go into the land is either fly tipped or sent abroad to places like Phillipines etc.  Dedicated sorting and recycling centers are very very few and far between in this country. Thousands of tons of plastic waste has washed on some obscure island. this waste is from all over the world including UK. What I can't get rid of ,because the tip is too far away or my son in law who is a registered waste carrier is too idle to come to me, goes straight in the bin.

[Alan de Enfield]

57 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

A lot of hand sorting goes on, not a job I would want.

 

This was a discussion I had with DrBob before he flounced.

As a 'director of a waste company' he was adament that hand sorting did not go on, but, having seen it happen with my own eyes, not only with recyclable waste but 'general mixed' waste as well I could not accept his statements. and told him so.

[Quattrodave]

I was sat behind bin wagon a few days ago on a single track road so i was watching them work for a good 5 mins, I didn't mind they have a job to do and we're unable to move over to let me by... I was really surprised to see them taking all the separated bins and containers, mixing it together in they're own bin before it was tipped into the back of the wagon... and yet the local council insist all rubbish must be separated or they won't take it... go figure....?!

Edited November 17, 2022 by Quattrodave

[blackrose]

4 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I gave up recycling when I discovered that most of it goes to landfill anyway because it is "contaminated" i.e. can't be bothered to sort it.

Glass gets crushed in and used as roadways in the tips.

If recycling materials were of any value the tinkers and pikies would be stealing it.

Recycle metals and batteries.They have a reuse ad infinitum.

Last I heard of printed paper was when the scouts had paper drives. That all stopped in the '70s because it was costing us £15 a ton to send it to Italy and getting nothing for it.

 

Your understanding of materials recycling is poor and based on disreputable heresay. Perhaps stick to posting on subjects you actually know something about. Some of the things you say just aren't true.

3 hours ago, pete.i said:

You people are living in cloud cuckoo land. I bet you all drive or will drive electric cars, oh no you wont because you wont be able to charge them because the grid wont be able to cope. As for "ask your local authority and if not why not" what an absolutely laughable suggestion. Most of the people in local authority don't give a damn. Most recycling goes into the land and what doesn't go into the land is either fly tipped or sent abroad to places like Phillipines etc.  Dedicated sorting and recycling centers are very very few and far between in this country. Thousands of tons of plastic waste has washed on some obscure island. this waste is from all over the world including UK. What I can't get rid of ,because the tip is too far away or my son in law who is a registered waste carrier is too idle to come to me, goes straight in the bin.

 

Your sweeping generalisations are also wrong. You're badly misinformed. Some materials sent for recycling aren't recycled, not most and the exporting of recyclables to developing countries has with a few exceptions largely stopped.

 

Your actions aren't helping to increase the proportion of materials recycled.

Edited November 17, 2022 by blackrose

[LadyG]

3 hours ago, pete.i said:

You people are living in cloud cuckoo land. I bet you all drive or will drive electric cars, oh no you wont because you wont be able to charge them because the grid wont be able to cope. As for "ask your local authority and if not why not" what an absolutely laughable suggestion. Most of the people in local authority don't give a damn. Most recycling goes into the land and what doesn't go into the land is either fly tipped or sent abroad to places like Phillipines etc.  Dedicated sorting and recycling centers are very very few and far between in this country. Thousands of tons of plastic waste has washed on some obscure island. this waste is from all over the world including UK. What I can't get rid of ,because the tip is too far away or my son in law who is a registered waste carrier is too idle to come to me, goes straight in the bin.

Which bin. Most folks have two three or four.

Edited November 17, 2022 by LadyG

[LadyG]

3 hours ago, pete.i said:

You people are living in cloud cuckoo land. I bet you all drive or will drive electric cars, oh no you wont because you wont be able to charge them because the grid wont be able to cope. As for "ask your local authority and if not why not" what an absolutely laughable suggestion. Most of the people in local authority don't give a damn. Most recycling goes into the land and what doesn't go into the land is either fly tipped or sent abroad to places like Phillipines etc.  Dedicated sorting and recycling centers are very very few and far between in this country. Thousands of tons of hoow bad is plastic waste has washed on some obscure island. this waste is from all over the world including UK. What I can't get rid of ,because the tip is too far away or my son in law who is a registered waste carrier is too idle to come to me, goes straight in the bin.

It's not a question of what individuals in any LA think. It is how the system is set up, and the government lay down guidelines, with funding .

People who don't make any attempt to recycle make it more difficult,. I mentioned earlier how poor CRT is, with no financial incentive they effectively send everything to landfill.

[Ronaldo47]

A year or so ago, there was an item in  "Private Eye" about a local authority that used to have an excellent record for recycling plastics, but had had to reduce it to around 50%.   The trouble was that they had signed a contract with an electricity generating company to burn their non-recyclable waste, the contract specifying a guaranteed minimum calorific value. Unfortunately their recycling sorting had been so efficient that the residue had a much  lower calorific value than that specified in the contract. They had therefore had to enrich their non-recyclable residue with recyclable plastics to avoid having to pay penalty charges.   

Edited November 17, 2022 by Ronaldo47
Typos

[David Mack]

2 hours ago, Ronaldo47 said:

A year or so ago, there was an item in  "Private Eye" about a local authority that used to have an excellent record for recycling plastics, but had had to reduce it to around 50%.   The trouble was that they had signed a contract with an electricity generating company to burn their non-recyclable waste, the contract specifying a guaranteed minimum calorific value. Unfortunately their recycling sorting had been so efficient that the residue had a much  lower calorific value than that specified in the contract. They had therefore had to enrich their non-recyclable residue with recyclable plastics to avoid having to pay penalty charges.   

Nothing new in that. Cheddars Lane Sewage Pumping Station in Cambridge (now Cambridge Museum of Technology) had its steam engine boilers successfully run on domestic refuse for years. Buy during WWII, the drive for recycling reduced the calorific value of the refuse and that had to use coal to fire the boilers.

Edited November 17, 2022 by David Mack

[pete23]

On 16/11/2022 at 11:34, philjw said:

Depending how much the battery weighs it could make sense to take it to a scrap metal merchant. The last set of leisure batteries (4 x115 Ah) paid out nearly £50 in Daventry.  If you do this take photo ID and your bank details.  Or maybe a local scrap merchant could collect from you?

Charlie’s on the industrial estate…?