Suspect was said to go through 50 batteries a day.
Battery disposal is always tricky business. There are so many different kinds and they tend to be made of metal, which would suggest some recycling is in order, but on the other hand, they also tend to be full of all kinds of potentially hazardous chemicals that could make them unsuitable for that or even regular disposal.
It’s always best to consult with your local waste management service to learn the best and safest way to deal with dead batteries. One thing they will certainly not advise is putting them in plastic soft drink bottles and chucking them in canals, and yet that’s what one 23-year-old man in Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto Prefecture decided to do.
At about 4:30 a.m. on 5 July, the suspect was spotted throwing a 1.5-liter (50-ounce) plastic drink bottle filled with AA batteries in an agricultural canal. Police arrested…