A mum-of-five who accidentally left the batteries in when she threw away some of her children’s toys said she “broke down crying on the phone” after she was told she could face a fine of £11,500.
Krystal Ogier got some one-tonne bags from Island Waste in order to move out of her States home in St Peter Port to a smaller, cheaper property.
However, she had “a bit of a panic attack” when she received a phone call from the company, saying she’d left 23 AA batteries in “four or five” toys and was liable for a fine of £500 per battery – though this was later reduced to £1,000 in total.
Island Waste said it did “not want to issue fines”, but the level of the fine reflected the danger batteries posed to “people, property and the environment”.
A spokesperson said the team had “worked with the customer” to put a payment plan in place and “significantly reduce” the fine, a decision which was made before they were aware Mrs Ogier’s personal situation.
‘A lot of money’
Mrs Ogier, who is currently on maternity leave from her job as a hairdresser, told Express: “I literally thought ‘I’m gonna have to do prison time for this’, because I can’t afford it.”
After the fine was reduced, she was given the option to pay in weekly instalments of £25, however Mrs Ogier said this was “still a lot of money” and she’d struggle to pay it.
“That 25 quid a week could be going towards food shopping or electric,” she added.
‘Don’t make the same mistake as me’
Mrs Ogier said she wanted to warn other islanders about the potential fines, so they didn’t make the “same mistake”.
However, she said she felt the fine was “extortionate – you can’t do that to people, especially if it’s a genuine mistake”.
She added that she would “rather do community service than have a 10 grand fine”.
Confusing
Mrs Ogier said she also felt Island Waste was unclear on its website about possible penalties.
The website states in several places that there was a fine of up to £500 for disposing of “unacceptable waste”.
However, it wasn’t clear that this could be per item without reading the full terms and conditions, she said.
The charges listed by Island Waste also include £500 for any amount of asbestos and £50 per nappy, used tampon or for bags of dog waste.
She said it “would have been cheaper” to put her children’s dirty nappies in there.
‘Not our batteries’
Another islander, who asked not to be named, got a “huge” £500 fine after someone put batteries in their bag without their permission.
They said: “So, we’ve been fined for someone else dumping in our bag!
“[The fine came] just as I suddenly became unemployed, so couldn’t have happened at a worse time!”
There were multiple batteries, but Island Waste had capped the fine at £500, which they were paying off at £50 a month.
Top cause of fires
Island Waste said: “We do not want to issue fines, we want our customers to please respect and adhere to our waste acceptance criteria which is issued on safety and compliance grounds.
“However, a fine is set to highlight and reflect the danger and consequences of leaving batteries in mixed waste, and the danger it presents to people, property and the environment.”
A spokesperson said the company had been proactively educating customers about the “ever-growing problem” and “heavily promoted the safe disposal of batteries, starting on the landing page in a bold red banner”.
Batteries were “the number one cause of fires at waste sites, potentially endangering staff, property and the environment”, the spokesperson added.
“The consequences of a battery fire can be catastrophic for a waste site, rapidly spreading and causing risk of injury to people, damage to property and the environment,” they said.
Clear on booking system
The company said it had “specifically designed” its online booking system, which Mrs Ogier used, so it forces people to confirm they’ve checked their waste and confirmed there were no batteries.
The spokesperson said Mrs Ogier “ticked the box to confirm this, and she also ticked the box to accept our Waste Acceptance Criteria”, which “clearly states the fine amount and how it is calculated”.
“The customer’s load was collected and found to have 23 batteries,” they added.
Six billion batteries in UK
The company also highlighted a recent report from the UK’s Environmental Services Association (ESA), which said about one in six of the six billion batteries thrown away in the UK last year were “hidden in discarded electrical devices like electric toothbrushes, razors, mobile phones and electronic vapes”.
“When batteries, or devices containing them, are incorrectly discarded with general rubbish or other conventional recycling, they present a serious fire risk during the handling and onward processing of this waste material,” the report said.
The problem costs the industry about £1 billion each year, the ESA said, with more than 1,200 battery-related fires in 12 months between 2023 and 2024.
‘Far too many fires’
Island Waste said its sites had “suffered far too many fires attributed to batteries”, which brought “grave danger to our working environment”.
It said staff were “working hard to ensure all waste is recycled safely”.
The spokesperson said: “We are asking that our customers kindly respect our waste acceptance guidance to keep our people, property and the Guernsey environment safe.”
“This includes, importantly, all our customers.”