EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT DISPOSABLE VAPES 





Every week, five million vapes are thrown away in the UK. Disposable vapes are being used widely to help people stop smoking and the wide variety of flavours, colours and brands have made them really popular in a very short space of time.  

What is the issue? 


fire

Disposable vapes are made using raw materials such as plastic, metal, silicone, cotton, and lithium. Not only are they resource intensive to produce but disposing of these materials incorrectly has a negative impact on our environment. Vapes also contain a battery. 

As the name suggests, disposable vapes are not meant to last long. When they’re binned the battery can be crushed. This can cause a fire in the bin wagon or at the recycling centres.  

Due to the huge amount of disposable vapes being binned incorrectly, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of fires in bin wagons and at recycling centres. This puts firefighters, bin crews and recycling centre staff in danger.

In May, a lorry full of paper and cardboard collected from households in Greater Manchester went on fire on the M60 motorway in Trafford. This caused hours of traffic chaos and meant the entire 15 tonnes of collected paper and card had to be binned. Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service have said a suspect disposable vape is to blame. Luckily, no-one was hurt on this occasion, but it could have been much worse.




What can you do? 

Recycle them:  

  • Take them back to the shop: shops that sell vapes should provide a recycling facility for them. In fact, they’re legally bound to offer a take-back scheme. If your local shop doesn’t have a collection point, ask them to introduce one. 
  • Alternatively find your nearest recycling point using Recycle your Electricals “Recycling Locator” 
  • Take them to your nearest recycling centre. We’re always looking for ways to improve recycling and we now have special vape bins so you can dispose of your vapes in a safe and secure way.


Swap to re-usable vapes:

By swapping to a re-usable vape you will be creating less electrical waste. You’ll also be helping the planet by saving precious materials from being extracted to manufacture them.  There are many options out there, you can shop around for an alternative which will save you money and have endless environmental benefits. 

For more information on vapes visit: 

Recycle vapes – Material Focus 

Vapes / Vaping devices | Recycle for Greater Manchester 

Video of how to recycle vapes  

Recycle Your Electricals Vapes Film (youtube.com) 



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