Five million single-use vapes are discarded weekly in the UK – a fourfold surge compared to 2022 – new research from a recycling campaign group has found.
Material Focus, the nonprofit organisation that conducted the research said that eight vapes are discarded every second in the UK, and the lithium found in these products has the potential to produce 5,000 electric car batteries annually.
Executive director at Material Focus, Scott Butler, said that the “problem with single-use vapes has gotten further out of control” since last year.
“Single-use vapes are a strong contender for being the most environmentally wasteful, damaging and dangerous consumer product ever made.”
Disposed vapes not only contribute to environmental waste but also present a public safety hazard, as their lithium batteries can become combustible when subjected to pressure or damage.
Material Focus estimates that the cost of collecting and recycling vapes amounts to £200m. The nonprofit suggests that this cost should be shouldered by vape producers, importers, and retailers.
In July, it was reported that the UK government has no plans to make e-cigarettes prescription-only. Conservative MP Dr Neil Hudson asked the House of Commons about the “potential merits” of restricting the sale of vapes by making them prescription-only.
In a written statement, Neil O’Brien of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), said: “No formal assessment has been made. There are no medicinally licensed vaping products approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. As such, the government is not currently considering making vaping products prescription-only.”
Meanwhile, recycling facilities for vapes in the UK are “a long way from what we need. It needs to be as easy to recycle as it is to buy them”, according to Mr Butler.
Currently, a YouGov survey shows that 33 per cent of people aged 16 to 18 who used e-cigarettes disposed of them in the trash.
Mr Butler says: “Until single-use vape producers, importers and retailers act to genuinely comply with and finance their legal environmental responsibilities then the calls for banning the sale of them will only strengthen.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that more people aged 16 to 24 in Britain are using e-cigarettes – with a sharp rise among young women. Deborah Arnott, chief executive of the charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), said the data shows “a worrying growth in vaping among teens and young adults”.
In the UK, it is illegal to buy vapes and e-cigarettes if you are under the age of 18.
Material Focus says that a mere 17 per cent of individuals report recycling single-use vapes, while a staggering 73 per cent discard them in the trash, and a negligible 1 per cent dispose of them by flushing them down the toilet.
