The environmental disaster of disposable e-cigarettes

A survey conducted by the organization Material Focus[1], specializing in the recycling of electrical products, and published in the Financial Times[2] shows the scale of the environmental cost of disposable puff-type e-cigarettes in the UK. In the country alone, 138 million puffs were sold in 2022, enough copper to make 2,500 electric vehicle batteries and 370,000 chargers for those vehicles.

Puffs thrown into household waste have significant environmental impacts, particularly due to the toxicity of the liquid contained in them and the loss of precious metals such as lithium and copper.

The Scottish and Irish governments are considering banning puffs altogether, while EU regulations due to be adopted this year will make the use of replaceable or rechargeable batteries mandatory in all consumer products by 2027.

Puffs lead to massive losses of raw materials

Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, said puffs pose a quadruple threat to the environment: loss of essential raw materials, pollution from plastics, toxicity of the product itself and fire risk.

The materials in single-use vapes could have a valuable second life if recycled properly. Each device contains about 0.15 grams of lithium in its battery, a metal classified as a “critical” raw material by the United States and the European Union. The International Energy Agency has warned that there could be a lithium shortage within two years due to the increase in electric car production.

More than 90 tonnes of lithium were used in the production of the millions of disposable e-cigarettes sold worldwide last year, according to estimates by the Financial Times based on data from research group Euromonitor, consultancy ECigIntelligence and Material Focus. That’s enough lithium to power more than 11,000 electric vehicle batteries. The e-cigarette batteries also contained about 1,160 tonnes of copper, enough to power 1.6 million electric vehicle chargers.

In 2022, Material Focus conducted a study jointly with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism that revealed that 1.3 million disposable e-cigarettes are thrown into household waste every week.[3]. These batteries could be recharged at least 300 times if the puffs were equipped with a charging port.

Vaping devices disposed of in landfills also pose a fire risk: more than 700 fires are caused each year by the improper disposal of electrical devices containing batteries, according to Material Focus.

Products that are difficult to recycle and very rarely recycled

Most puffs contain LEDs that light up when the user puffs on them. These are unlikely to be recovered during the recycling process.

According to Peter Moody, CEO of Gap Group, a recycling company, recycling disposable e-cigarettes is “very labor intensive.” Each product must be disassembled by hand because of the flammable batteries, and the nicotine liquid requires additional health and safety considerations.

A recycling scheme run by disposable vape maker Riot Labs across 800 UK vape shops has seen a take-back rate of less than 1%.

Most vaping manufacturers do not comply with environmental regulations

Businesses must register as a producer each year, based on the quantity of electrical goods they sell. For a quantity of electronic goods less than 5 tonnes per year, businesses must register with their environmental regulator as a small producer. For businesses exceeding 5 tonnes, they must pay a body (Producer Compliance Scheme - PCS) which is responsible for the obligations incumbent on businesses to finance the collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).

In the UK, only 16 of the 150 largest vaping brands have registered to comply with environmental regulations on producer responsibility for e-waste, portable batteries and packaging. Yet all were members of a vaping industry trade association and had registered their products with the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Furthermore, large producers and importers of vaping products (such as the UK’s popular ElfBar), who have only recently registered, are not covering the real costs of collection and recycling.

Keywords: disposable e-cigarettes, puff, recycling, environment, battery, lithium, waste

AE

[1] Press release, Over 90% of vape and vape juice producers in the UK are failing to meet environmental regulations, Material Focus, published March 7, 2023, accessed March 9, 2023

[2] Oliver Barnes and Alexandra Heal, The environmental cost of single-use vapes, Financial Times, published March 7, 2023, accessed March 9, 2023

[3] Generation without tobacco, A majority of disposable e-cigarettes are not recycled and end up in landfills, published July 19, 2022, accessed March 9, 2023