Pokemon no-go zones

A United Kingdom-based solid waste and recycling company is alerting players of the popular away-from-home Pokemon GO video game that they are “putting themselves at risk by playing in rubbish tips and bin areas” or near landfill sites.

York, England-based BusinessWaste.co.uk says its employees have been in situations where they have “been forced to warn players – both adult and children – away from recycling centres and landfill sites, where they have been completely oblivious to [threats] their own safety.”

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

Hall adds, “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."

However, BusinessWaste.co.uk reports that within days after the game was released in the U.K., its employees had begun spotting “Pokemon trainers wandering into dangerous territory, unaware of the potentially deadly (and real world) risks they are facing.”

According to staff working for BusinessWaste.co.uk, the list of incidents has included:

• 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, who “were given appropriate advice and escorted to safety”;
• a teenager climbing on industrial bins containing metallic scrap behind a factory because, in the teen’s words, “There's a Jigglypuff here, give me two minutes”; and
• two youths who stepped out in front of a bin lorry on their way to a nearby Pokestop at a local war memorial, who may have been within inches of being road traffic accident victims.

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

BusinessWaste.co.uk says its clients are noting numerous acts of trespassing on their property, for no other reason than to “catch ‘em all.” While some are merely people sneaking around a parking lot or landscaped grounds, other cases can be more serious.

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

“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,” states Hall.

“Real life isn’t like a game; you don’t get to go back to the beginning if you’re killed,” he comments, adding the warning “Steer clear of rubbish tips and recycling plants; it’s not worth it.”