Disposable vapes contain scarce lithium in their cells we could use to build more electric vehicle batteries. Granted, we are only talking small quantities here. But that’s until we realize in the UK alone 84 million throwaway vapes end up as trash in refuse bins. With disposable vape recycling becoming an issue we need to ask what is going on.
Why Are Disposable Vapes Bypassing Recycling?
The short answer is the battery cells are inside the casings of disposable vapes, and are probably the last thing in users’ minds. We imagine the situation is similar in North America, and are relaying The Telegraph’s report on that basis.
The more worrisome statistic is the 84 million throwaway vapes out of 168 million represent a deal of lithium. And that, The Telegraph says is enough for 1,200 electric car batteries. Most users are in the 18 to 34 age bracket, so we might have thought they would be more responsible.
We might also have expected disposable vape recycling would be more of an issue in environmentally-conscious UK. Why is the message not reaching vape users and convincing them to put them in the recycling bin instead? Perhaps the importers are not fulfilling their responsibilities.
Is This a Case of Irresponsible Marketing?
Sky News took this angle on the basis of a very real need to make recycling easier. They discovered, and we quote “our investigation suggests the disposable vape producers may not even be meeting the minimum obligations to recycle their products”
The UK government requires providers of electrical or electronic equipment to register on the waste electrical and electronic equipment WEEE database. However, Sky News did not find evidence the two leading importers have done so.
The WEEE Regulations also place an obligation on distributors to offer consumers a take-back system where WEEE items can be disposed of free of charge. This brings us closer to understanding why half UK disposable vapes are ending up as garbage.
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