AS the Scottish Government launches an urgent review into single-use vapes, a recycling organisation is calling for manufacturers of the products to become part of the solution.
Ministers have expressed concerns about the environmental and public health impacts of the vapes, which are often marketed as disposable despite the risks they pose when littered.
The batteries contained in the product contain toxic chemicals and are a potential fire-risk when disposed of improperly.
Circular economy minister Lorna Slater has said that policy options could even include an outright ban.
Yet while environmental campaigners have welcomed the urgency of the review, they are also calling on producers of the items to step-up.
“These things contain lots of different materials,” environmental campaigner Laura Young, who has now become styled as the Vape Crusader, said.
“It’s plastic, it’s metal, you’ve got cartridges filled with liquid which is actually categorised as toxic waste and you’ve got the electronic component, which is normally a lithium battery.
“And that makes it difficult to dispose of because you can’t just throw it into a recycling bin you have at home or one at the end of your street.
“These products need to be recycled with small electricals, which can usually only be done at larger facilities like your local dump or recycling centre. Instantly, there’s a problem with accessibility.”
Indeed, not everybody has the means to drive to these facilities. As such, piles of the product are now ending up alongside battery recycling bins at supermarkets even though they cannot be recycled like normal batteries.
Brands who produce single-use vapes are now being encouraged to make the recycling of their products easier and more accessible.
Recycling organisation Material Focus say that the products have come out of “nowhere” and that without action to increase the rate at which they are recycled the problems highlighted by campaigners such as Young are likely to get worse.
Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, told The National: "Disposable single-use vapes have rapidly come out of nowhere and are a growing phenomenon in the UK.
"Our research has shown that at least 50% of all single use vapes are just simply thrown away, leading to over 1 million vapes thrown away every week. We need to take urgent action now and ensure that they get recycled.
“Vapes are part of the UK’s fastest growing waste stream - 150,000 tonnes of electricals are thrown away every year together with 527 million hoarded in UK homes. Throwing away vapes and electricals means that we are losing some of the most precious materials on our planet."
He added: “A key part of the problem is that vapes are advertised as disposable. Producers and retailers need to work together to make people aware that vapes should never be binned and should always be recycled.
"Recycling vapes and electricals needs to be made easier and manufacturers and retailers can become part of the solution by adding collection points in-store.”
How do I recycle a single-use vape in Scotland?
While it is possible to break-up the components of a single-use vape and recycle them individually, Material Focus urges consumers to seek out their nearest recycling centre that accepts small electrical products.
You can check where the closest recycling point is to you on the Recycle Your Electricals website.
They also encourage users of single-use vapes to ask in the stores they purchase them from whether there is a take back scheme or a recycling point.
