Customers are always getting in touch with us via email, on the telephone, or when they pop into our showroom, to ask us a range of questions relating to fireworks. As you might expect, most of these relate to our products as well as our professional wedding fireworks displays, but we do get the odd quirky and sometimes downright odd question that comes up.
See our recent blog on whether aeroplanes can be affected by fireworks.
A recent question, which inspired this blog, was how to dispose of very old fireworks. We heard from someone who had discovered some fireworks in an old lock-up that hadn’t been cleared out for over ten years.
In the past we have looked at storing leftover fireworks safely. What do you need to do if, like our customer, you’ve found some old fireworks and need to get rid of them safely, or you had your own display in the past and have recently discovered an old fireworks stash you’d completely forgotten about.
Old Fireworks Don’t Mean Anything
Just because your fireworks are old, this doesn’t mean you have to do anything special on top of what you would otherwise do when disposing of them.
What does it mean to actually dispose of fireworks?
Just Set Them Off!
Come on, why not just set off the fireworks you have just found? Fireworks don’t expire, as we explained last year in this blog post. Although there is a chance that your fireworks won’t fire correctly or at all, you aren’t putting yourself at risk by trying. If the fireworks don’t launch then yes, you’ll have to leave them in the ground for around 24 hours so you can be satisfied they’re definitely not alight and aren’t going to explode in your face, but other than that you have nothing else to worry about.
If you are in a situation where you don’t recognize the type of firework, or you’re not up to date on the latest firework laws and regulations in your country, then check before setting them off.
The last thing you want is for your fun to be ruined and be getting arrested because you are setting off illegal fireworks without realizing it!
If You Do Want to Dispose of Them
If you’re not a fireworks lover and have just happened upon your fireworks like our customer did, then you may well want to just dispose of them safely. While they can be placed in your everyday rubbish, first you should render them inert by ‘drowning’ them. 48 hours in water will take care of all the explosive elements and render them inert. When you’re done, you can place the fireworks in your rubbish, and the water should be poured over your garden, not down the drain, as it may contain nitrates and other pollutants. These won’t damage your plans however and might even provide added nutrition to them.
Disposing of Old Fireworks Safety
Whether you choose to set off your old fireworks or drown them prior to disposal, ensure you stay safe while doing so.
