Material Focus forecasts that new vapes, including “pods and big puff” are set to cause significant environmental challenges post the disposable vapes ban in June. The production of vapes is continuing to morph with more new products entering the market such as big puff and pod based models which have been designed by producers to avoid the new regulations. In many cases they have a similar look, feel and price points to the models they are replacing, which could lead to similar disposal behaviours by vapers.
The impact of vapes since they first started to surge onto the market has been significant. In advance of the forthcoming disposable vape ban on 1st June, Material Focus has analysed its research on vapes that it first commissioned in 2022 and identified that 1.2 billion disposable style vapes have been bought and three quarters of billion disposable style vapes have been binned or littered. This is the equivalent to 16,327 electrical vehicle batteries worth of lithium being thrown away.
Scott Butler, executive director, Material Focus said: “Without quick and extensive action, the threat of a vapocalypse remains and new big puff and pod vape models are already contributing to an environmental nightmare. Vape producers are being infinitely creative with their products in order to avoid the forthcoming disposable vape ban.
“The current ban will take some of the most environmentally wasteful vape products off the market. We might need more flexible legislation to deal with the challenges of new products with similar challenges surging onto the market?
“It’s good to see that more vape retailers are beginning to offer recycling collection points, and more people are recycling them. However this isn’t anywhere near enough to turn the tide. The majority of vapers are either unaware of where to recycle their vapes or don’t have a good experience of recycling them. It should be as easy to recycle a vape as it is to buy one. We want more vapers demanding that where they buy them provide recycling points. It is a legal obligation for all those who sell vapes to provide this after all.”
The current ban will take some of the most environmentally wasteful vape products off the market. However, new products which offer similarly competitive price points as single-use vapes, which are also marketed as disposable, are surging onto the market and could cause significant environmental challenges post the disposable ban next year. All vape products including rechargeable, big puff, pod and and their replacement cartridges can be recycled. To find your nearest recycling point go to Recycle Your Electricals which has a postcode locator with over 30,000 recycling points where you can find your place to recycle your vapes.
Vapes are a strong contender for being one of the most environmentally wasteful, damaging and dangerous consumer products ever made. Vapes contain valuable and critical materials such as lithium and copper that are regularly being binned. The number of vapes thrown away over the past three years could instead be powering 16,327 electric vehicles. Vapes are toxic and damaging to the environment and wildlife if littered. Fires caused by vapes and other electricals with hidden batteries are on the rise across the UK. Material Focus research in 2024 identified that the number of battery fires in the waste stream had increased to over 1,200 in the last year, an increase of 71% from 700 in 2022. These fires cause serious damage to the local community in addition to air pollution levels spikes in local area
Instead vapes can be recycled – 80% of the materials inside a vape can be recycled.
Scott Butler, executive director said: “Vapes, like any other electrical with a plug, battery or cable, should never be binned and always be recycled as a minimum. We need rapid growth in the number of accessible and visible vape recycling drop-off points. And we need proper retailer and producer financing of genuine recycling solutions to recover materials and manage fire risks. The UK needs more drop-off points in stores, in parks, in public spaces near offices, bars and pubs, and near to schools, colleges and universities.“
Proposed set of solutions to address the challenges with vapes:
- Immediate, significant and transparent vape industry action on a comprehensive and widely accessible take-back and recycling solution alongside a major communications campaign to raise public awareness
- More information being displayed on vapes and vapes packaging on how they can be recycled and also prominent displays in stores
- More recycling points for vapes in stores, parks, public places and schools and universities and colleges
- In-store take back to be a mandatory part of the vape industry proposed licensing system for selling vapes, although it is of course already a legal obligation
- Increased awareness through the Material Focus Industry Briefing on the legal obligations of all vape sellers and producers – including communications assets to promote take-back of vapes
Consider more flexible legislation to deal with the ongoing challenges of the new electrical products surging onto the market.
