:D!

When my bag was broken, my hotel was happy to dispose of it at no charge.

In terms of environmental concerns, I wonder which is more harmful: calling a taxi to your house and going on a special trip to the waste centre and back, or adding 1kg of extra weight to an airport drive and a flight that you're going to take anyway (then asking a hotel to throw it away for you)

Perhaps just keep the luggage until there is another big item to dump, then pay the Ł40 for them to take away both items.

In some places if you leave a luggage, or any sort of reusable item, next to a bin, it will shortly be taken away by a member of the public. In other places this might happen, which also solves the problem.

dylanks

I had a bag damaged last year and BA uses Rynn's Luggage in the US. After determining that my bag could not be repaired (very large dent in one corner, and could not be replaced as it was a smart bag, whose manufacturer had ceased operations due to the ban on Lithium batteries in checked bags), they offered 3 options, all of which were either Samsonite or another brand from the same parent company with a retail price comparable to my original bag. The bag was shipped to me and arrived about 10 days later. I imagine that because the US is quite a bit larger than the UK, that it's not practical to have someone deliver each replacement bag in person. I have no idea if this is typical treatment, or if I received special treatment due to GGL status.

There was no mention of taking the damaged bag back, so we donated it to our local Goodwill shop. Over here the shop will either sell the item as-is, attempt to repair it and sell it, or recycle it if they cannot make use of it. I'm sure someone out there probably paid $5-10 for a dented bag that was originally ~$400.

BOH

And still local councils wonder why there is a fly-tipping epidemic in the UK. I pay my council tax for refuse collection, why should they want more FFS?

BOH

You beat me to it, exactly what I would do. Sometimes rather than looking to pass the problem to someone else (and look at it as black-and-white "they broke it, they can dispose of it" mentality) you just gotta sort it yourself. Why bother with all the hassle of somehow trying to get BA to collect it, or you take to the airport, or pay the Ł40 and try and claim from BA surely it is less stress and hassle to just sort it yourself and put it down to experience. Seriously, you not think there is more to life than winning a meaningless pyrrhic victory?

Flexible preferences

I have 2 points to make:

1 The OP would have had to dispose of his original suitcase at the end of its life anyway, so there is no extra task or cost

2 The fair reimbursement is the cost of the case less depreciation, which would be less than original cost

Passmethesickbag

I actually asked BA, and actually got a response that made sense. They can take a bag at the end of a flight, and keep it airside until it is removed for disposal because it has gone through the necessary screening. A bag that is brought to the airport has not. Doesn't explain why they can't let their contractor do the disposal/recycling, but at least it's an honest and logical response.

simons1

If it was handed over landside, and went to disposal, why would it need screening? Does all landside rubbish get screened?

corporate-wage-slave

I can make it slightly cheaper for the OP. From the context given above, it seems getting to Heathrow isn't too difficult, so why not take bus 350 - every 20 minutes, 20 minute ride - to the West Drayton Civic Amenity facility, open on alternate weekends at West Drayton railway station?

https://www.hillingdon.gov.uk/wasteandrecyclingsites

The bus goes pretty much door to door from T5 to the tip. If you not a Hillingdon resident then you need to pay Ł10 (I am not sure if they would bother to collect the fee at this site since it's a special facility), so I'd fill up the case with anything else surplus to requirements. Hard plastic is recycled.

Slightly further away, but also bus accessible from Heathrow (number 7 bus) is the Langley tip, that's open longer hours.