Players putting themselves at risk by playing in rubbish tips and bin areas

While the global mobile gaming phenomenon has yet to cause serious incident in South Africa due to local access constraints, British Pokemon Go payers are reportedly “dicing death” as they risk their lives looking for the animated collectables in dangerous areas such as rubbish tips and landfill sites.

Soon after Pokemon Go was officially released in the UK, one of the country’s largest waste and recycling companies was already reporting hapless Pokemon trainers wandering into dangerous territory, unaware of the potentially deadly (and real world) risks they are facing.

Yorkshire-based BusinessWaste.co.uk says they’ve already been forced to warn players – both adult and children – away from recycling centres and landfill sites, where they have been completely oblivious to their own safety.

Getting mixed up

“Pokemon Go is a huge step in mobile gaming which combines an imaginary world with the real one,” says BusinessWaste.co.uk spokesperson Mark Hall, “But players seem to think they are immortal in both, and that’s where the trouble starts.”

“In many respects, the game is extraordinary and appeals to both adults and kids, with whole families getting outdoors to hunt for their imaginary quarry, and that’s a very good thing. But it is not without its risks,” Hall continues.

The problem is that the game is an imaginary world overlaid on the real one, with little regard as to what are appropriate and inappropriate locations – as illustrated by the Holocaust Museum asking players to show a little respectin one of the latest news erruptions over the game.

Waste-related risks

Respect is one thing, but danger is another: According to staff working for BusinessWaste.co.uk, the incidents are already stacking up.

• An adult was asked to leave a waste and recycling site after being seen playing the game oblivious to the plant machinery around him;
• A family group seen hunting Pokemon at an active landfill site. They were given appropriate advice and escorted to safety;
• A teenager climbing on industrial bins containing metallic waste behind a factory because (and we quote) “There’s a Jigglypuff here, give me two minutes”;
• Two youths who stepped out in front of a bin lorry on their way to a nearby Pokestop at a local war memorial, who were within inches of being road traffic accident victims.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” says Business Waste, “Our clients all over the country are reporting similar problems.”

BusinessWaste.co.uk comments that its clients are noting numerous acts of trespass on their property, for no other reason than to (ahem) “catch ’em all”. While some are merely people sneaking round the car park or grounds, other cases are more serious.

Hazardous waste and chemicals

“We’ve been told of trespassers in production areas, but what concerns us most is reports of people round bins which contain hazardous waste,” says Hall.

BusinessWaste.co.uk employs specialist handlers for risky industrial waste, and to see people playing games in supposedly restricted and secure areas is shocking indeed. And that’s where players of this otherwise harmless game need to be warned.

Unfortunate Poke-placement

“What is it with imaginary electronic creatures and rubbish bins?” Hall asks.

According to Hall, people loitering at refuse and recycling sites – always the perennial problem for waste operators concerned out the health and safety of staff and visitors – have been on the increase as the game rapidly achieves cult status.

“We’ve nothing against Pokemon Go, and we know that players are warned to be aware of their surroundings in a message on the home screen, but it’s a warning that’s being ignored,” says Hall.

“Real life isn’t like a game, you don’t get to go back to the beginning if you’re killed,” concludes an exasperated Hall.