Live shotgun cartridges dumped at recycling centre
The live ammunition was found in a box at Portlethen Recycling Centre
- Published
Shotgun cartridges have been found among household batteries in a box at an Aberdeenshire recycling centre.
Aberdeenshire Council said the live ammunition was discovered on 23 July at Portlethen Recycling Centre.
They were subsequently handed into Stonehaven Police Station for destruction.
Aberdeenshire Council said it was "lucky" the cartridges were spotted and removed safely because they had posed a "potentially dangerous situation".
Ewan Wallace, of Aberdeenshire Council, said: "Batteries are a known fire risk in our recycling streams and to find live ammunition among them presents a real risk to staff, site visitors, and to those we've contracted to transport and recycle the batteries.
"We are urging residents to, please, never take live ammunition to a household recycling centre and never place them in household bins."
He said live shotgun cartridges should only be disposed of by handing them to a local police station, or to a registered firearms dealer.
The council said up to 50 spent shotgun cartridges could be disposed of through normal household waste.