Britain’s latest addiction, e-cigarettes, is creating a mountain of hard-to-recycle waste that often ends up in landfill. James Richards examines the scale of the problem.
E-cigarettes, or ‘vapes’, are more popular than ever. Research by public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) published this year found that 4.3 million people in Great Britain are now vapers.
And while vaping has been heralded as a ‘healthier’ alternative to cigarettes, the habit is causing all sorts of problems for waste managers and the environment.
Although they come in many shapes and sizes, most vapes have the same basic functionality: a battery-powered metal coil that heats up the ‘e-liquid’ (usually containing nicotine) into an aerosol, which is inhaled by the user.
They generally fall into two categories – reusable or disposable. Reusable vapes can be recharged by the user, the battery replaced and the vaping liquid refilled. Disposable vapes are designed to be used and discarded.
A headache for waste managers
For Ray Parmenter, head of policy and technical at CIWM, the complex nature of the products is causing a major headache for the sector. ‘Vapes come in many forms, and their sheer diversity makes it very difficult to deal with as a waste stream,’ he says.
‘Each unit is typically composed of plastics, metals, a lithium battery, and some have LED lights, sensors and even microprocessors. The fact they lock up so many valuable resources into a hard-to-recycle unit makes them an anathema to waste managers.’
Some vapes can be dismantled, allowing the user to dispose of the different elements into the correct waste streams. In general, any electrical component would have to be consigned to e-waste recycling.
Some vapes can be dismantled, allowing the user to dispose of the different elements into the correct waste streams. In general, any electrical component would have to be consigned to e-waste recycling.
However, the vape ‘chamber’ is often a mixture of glass and plastic, which presents even diligent users with a dilemma. And, unless all the pieces are cleaned, there is a risk of introducing liquid nicotine into the environment.
However, according to consultant and CIWM trustee Duncan Simpson, even if the vape unit is disposed of correctly as e-waste, the problems don’t end there. ‘Due to the complex combination of materials – and the possibility of left-over nicotine in the unit – they have to be dismantled by hand in order to dispose of the elements appropriately, which is labour intensive and expensive,’ he said.
Resources up in smoke
The bottom line is that consumers find it hard to recycle vapes. This has resulted in huge quantities of e-cigarettes being binned every year. Indeed, recent research by Material Focus has found that, of the almost half a billion vapes (reusable and disposable) bought annually in the UK, a third are thrown away, which amounts to three million per week.
The cost in resource terms is staggering: Material Focus estimates that the volume of all vapes sent to landfill or incineration each year contains around 23 tonnes of lithium, the equivalent to 2,884 electric vehicle batteries.
‘Beyond the enormous squandering of resources, vapes disposed of in residual waste streams pose a fire risk,’ says Simpson. ‘If units that contain batteries end up inside bins or recycling vehicles, and are crushed, they may be punctured and self-combust, igniting the dry waste around them.’
Single-use vapes
The problem is particularly acute around disposable vapes. Typically, these cheap, single-use units last for around 1-5 days (although some promise longer lifespans). Many of these come pre-charged and are ready to use right out of the box.
This level of convenience means they are extremely popular: Material Focus suggests that 14 million single-use vapes are bought each week.
For Parmenter, disposable vapes are the perfect example of how not to design a product. ‘Who thought this was a good idea? It’s a classic example of designers paying no heed whatsoever to the end of life of the product,’ he said.
The issue is compounded by the fact that, according to research by industry body the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), up to 60 per cent of disposable vapes being sold in the UK are actually illicit – either non-compliant with domestic laws or counterfeit.
Speaking to conveniencestore.co.uk in August, UKVIA director general John Dunne admitted this was a ‘huge concern’, and revealed his organisation ‘receives between 200 and 400 reports of illegal sellers in the UK every month’.
The littering issue
Unfortunately, many of these unregulated units are being sold illegally to young people.
Research by ASH has found that almost half of 18-24-year-olds are using disposable vapes.
Although some disposable vapes are capable of being dismantled and recycled, the all-in-one design seems to be driving increased instances of littering. ‘Anecdotally, it’s easy to see that disposable vapes are creating a littering problem,’ says Parmenter.
‘One finds them scattered around outside schools, discarded by children who presumably don’t have the inclination or awareness to at least put them in the bin. And a glance at the average pavement or car park will confirm this is becoming a more widespread problem.’
Legislation and control
One potential solution would be to operate a type of deposit-return system, says Simpson, reimbursing people financially if they return the vapes to the place where they bought them.
Simpson points out that vapes are covered by existing waste regulations. Indeed, these units are classed as waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) under UK law, meaning that producers or importers of WEEE products have a responsibility under the regulations to make sure they are recycled, and to place themselves on a register.
Sellers of electrical items – such as vapes – are also obliged under the regulations to offer a take-back service for customers on the purchase of equivalent items.
Either that, or they join the Distributor Takeback Scheme (DTS), under which they will pay a fee that supports the local authority’s recycling efforts, and provide information to customers about recycling points.
However, in the absence of a collection scheme for vapes, those retailers offering a take-back service would be faced with the same disposal dilemma as individuals.
One potential solution would be to operate a type of deposit-return system, reimbursing people financially if they return the vapes to the place where they bought them.
One recent investigation by Sky News found that neither the manufacturer or importer of two of the leading vape brands were listed on the WEEE register.
Simpson suggests that the existing regulations would ideally be tweaked to take account of these relatively new products. He also acknowledges the need to ‘drive illicit players’ from the shelves, but notes a desire among legitimate producers to create a properly regulated market.
‘Some consumers and producers want to do the right thing’, he says.
‘To enable this, we need to corral the right people together – the regulators, producers and waste professionals – and come up with a clear system with which to present to consumers.’
For Parmenter, the existing battery take-back scheme could be a template for an e-cigarette recycling service.
‘The model is certainly there,’ he says. ‘And once we have sufficient volume, there’s a greater likelihood that waste companies will innovate and create a process – most likely using robotics – that can safely and efficiently dismantle and recycle vapes on an industrial scale.’
