Lately, we've all noticed a strong global push against vaping products. We won't judge the merit of this push, so let's focus on the facts and examine the life cycle of vaping products from production to recycling.
The life cycle can be divided into the following stages: production, sale, recycling. At each of these stages, there are valid concerns about their environmental impact. Let's take a closer look at each of these stages and identify the associated risks.
Stage 1: Production
Currently, most vaping products pose an environmental threat right from the start of production. Sourcing raw materials for these products is highly resource-intensive, requiring not just plastics but also heavy metals, lithium-ion batteries, and nicotine from tobacco plants. Mining lithium for vape batteries is a major source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, requires the use of chemicals and immense amounts of water, and leaves toxic waste in its wake. Furthermore, the nicotine used in these products comes from tobacco plants, a destructive crop that causes mass deforestation, soil contamination, and water depletion.
On a positive note, some companies are making efforts to replace plastic with more environmentally friendly substances.
Stage 2: Sale
Most vapes are designed for single or short-term use. This sales model ensures that consumers constantly need to purchase new products or refills, creating a growing waste problem.
Assuming that 3.16 million UK adults vape daily, if only one-third of these adults use one pod or disposable vape daily, this would generate nearly half a billion pieces of vape waste annually.
Almost every part of a vape is made of plastic, which never biodegrades. Instead, it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic called microplastics. Microplastics have been linked to fertility issues, intestinal damage, and even mutations in DNA.
Stage 3: Recycling
Currently, the vaping industry cannot provide practical guidelines for disposing of its products. E-waste components of vapes, such as lithium-ion batteries, heating elements, microcontroller chips, and chargers, are extremely hazardous if disposed of in regular household trash.
(If your company already has procedures and would like to share them with customers, let us know, and we will include this information with each of your products.)
If vapes are put into trash receptacles, they pose a fire risk in waste and recycling facilities, threatening workers' safety. Vape plastics cannot be recycled because they contain residues of highly concentrated nicotine and heavy metals, classifying vapes as hazardous waste. Disposable vapes not only contribute to a growing plastic pollution problem but also release toxic chemicals into our ground and water.
As nicotine, mercury, lead, bromines, and battery acid from these littered products leach into the environment, they can also be eaten by wildlife or pets. Nicotine, found in almost all vapes, is a neurotoxin and one of the most toxic of all poisons.
Additionally, there is no reward system for vape users who recycle properly. Let's be honest; most people completely ignore this aspect because they don't see direct benefits for themselves. Introducing a recycling reward model could lead to an increase in properly recycled products as people would be directly rewarded for their responsible recycling.
So, the main problems are:
- The use of plastics containers that are difficult to recycle.
- The use of heavy metals and toxic substances in battery production that pose an environmental threat.
- The lack of tracking of what happens to the product from production to recycling.
- The absence of a recycling reward program.
Proposed solutions to address these issues:
- Modular vape product construction: Modular design would make it easier to separate product elements that are 100% recyclable from those that require more processing.
- Replace plastic with recyclable materials.
- Introduce a reward program for proper recycling.
- Tracking the product, which could be achieved through IoT, assigning an individual identifier to each product.
