Disposable vape packaging predicament: Tackling a growing environmental crisis

19 Sep 2023 --- With countries like the UK, France, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand cracking down on single-use vapes amid rising health and environment concerns, we examine the packaging industry’s role in the damages caused by disposable vapes.

Scott Butler, executive director at Material Focus, a UK-based non-profit organization dedicated to environmental research, tells us that the rate of untold ecological impacts associated with single-use vape packaging points to a growing need for ease of recycling. 

Butler affirms that disposable vapes are a packaging industry problem, highlighting the various components of single-use vapes littered across cities. “You’ve got the box and the polymer seal fresh bag around them. You have the little rubber tips that are particularly dangerous for wildlife. On some of the models, there’s a little sticker – and if you go across the UK high street now, you will find lots of those stickers stuck to the public bins.”

“The whole issue is being under-noticed, alongside the waste of copper and lithium in the vape itself. Across the entire family of vapes, there are several environmental externalities.”

 The environmental problems associated with disposable vape packaging extend to the complex and multi-material composition of the products.Simplest material selection
Beyond littering, the environmental problems associated with disposable vape packaging extend to the complex and multi-material composition of the products. Butler stresses the importance of simplifying packaging materials and making them recyclable.

“It’s the same challenge for anything packaged – having the simplest materials possible. Suppose you did a material analysis of a single-use vape: Within the vape, you’ve got steel, potentially plastic, aluminum, some synthetic absorbent materials, probably four or five different types of plastic, then you’ve got what’s wrapped around it,” he says. 

“So you’ve got the question mark: Are our resources being used appropriately, when it comes to a product such as that, which is marketed as disposable, but then also, you’ve got the issue that virtually no solutions for recycling them exist on the market.” 

Butler emphasizes that while some vape producers claim innovations in recyclability, the lack of accessible recycling options for the public remains a significant challenge.

“We have a big gap in accessibility and ease of recycling. We are calling on immediate major action from those companies who have profited from costs that are being paid for by the public in the environment.” 

“And that’s not just the vaping industry itself – it’s also a major supermarket, newsagent and convenience store chains and petrol station shops. It’s as easy to buy a vape as it is to buy a KitKat. And that needs to be matched now in terms of it being as easy to recycle them as it is to buy.”

Who pays for quadrupled consumption?
Material Focus published research earlier this month revealing that the number of disposable single-use vapes thrown away in the UK has soared from 1.3 million to nearly 5 million per week, in the past year. This is equivalent to eight vapes per second being thrown away – almost four times the number since the research was first conducted. 

According to Material Focus, the potential yearly cost of collecting and recycling these vapes now stands at £200 million (US$247 million), which currently isn’t being paid for by vape producers, importers and retailers. Number of disposable single-use vapes thrown away have in a year quadrupled to 5 million per week, finds Material Focus.

In response to the concerns raised about the environmental impact of disposable vape packaging, a spokesperson from the UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) tells Packaging Insights: “Work is ongoing to deliver our EPR scheme, and we’re continuing to engage closely with manufacturers, retailers and packaging companies on the design of the scheme. We will continue working with industry as we finalize plans to ensure the schemes will deliver our environmental goals.”

The UK Environment Act has granted powers to shift the financial responsibility for managing packaging waste from taxpayers to producers. These producers will be required to cover the total cost of handling packaging waste from households. The scheme incentivizes producers to reduce packaging use, opt for recyclable materials and meet higher recycling targets by imposing fees.

Most “dangerous product ever made”?
Butler welcomes the idea of creating a separate category for vapes within the EPR scheme, highlighting the need for specific solutions to tackle the unique challenge. He stresses the need for a united effort across the UK and emphasizes that the producers and retailers profiting from disposable vapes must meet their obligations.

Butler says Defra’s proposal to create a separate vape category is a good step, but “no way near the answer in its entirety.” 

“But it means that we can at least understand the size of the market, the producers and retailers and try to get the regulations working correctly.” 

“With the amounts of them being sold now and what’s happening to them, vapes are strong contenders for the most environmentally wasteful, damaging and dangerous product ever made. The scale of the challenge needs to be to be respected, and it’s a suite of actions that are needed.”

Vapes are strong contenders for the most environmentally wasteful, damaging and dangerous product ever made, according to Butler.Environmentalists call to action
Greenpeace is calling on the UK government to ban disposable vapes. “Reusable, rechargeable vapes are already a good alternative. By banning disposable vapes we can shift from our throwaway culture to one of reuse. This will make better use of the valuable resources and stop toxic waste from leaking into the environment,” the organization says.

“The materials used in disposable vapes make them a potential hazard to humans, wildlife and the environment when they’re thrown away. Lithium batteries are highly flammable and have been causing dangerous fires in bin lorries and waste processing centers. Then there’s the pollution from disposable vapes. If they’re littered or in landfill, there’s a risk of harmful chemicals like battery acid, lithium and nicotine leaking into the environment.”

Additionally, Butler encourages consumers to treat vapes like any other electrical item and recycle them responsibly, taking them back to retailers or other locations that accept them, even proposing retailer-led deposit return schemes to boost recycling rates.

“A legal deposit return scheme is a significant piece of legislation. And we’ve seen with the scheme in Scotland how that hit stumbling blocks. But there is nothing to stop individual retailers from running their version of a deposit return scheme. So, it could be one solution. We need action now. Our biggest concern is that policy uncertainty leads to inaction.”

In recognizing the broader scope of the problem, Butler highlights, “It’s vital to call out the producers, but also the retailers. While the vaping industry has profited, it is also high street stores.” 

He emphasizes the need to make recycling more accessible and places the responsibility squarely on producers and retailers, stating, “It’s producers and retailers whose responsibilities are to make it easy, not consumers or local authorities.”

By Radhika Sikaria