Media Release, 21 March 2024
With the forthcoming ban on single-use vapes due to be implemented in 2025, new research by Material Focus has identified that a quarter of a billion plus vapes will be be thrown away in the run up to the ban, and that there is an ineffective system for managing these vapes with both vape producers and vape retailers failing to meet their environmental obligations.
New analysis conducted by Material Focus, the not for profit leading the Recycle Your Electricals campaign, has indicated that 90% of vape producers in the UK seem to be still failing to comply with environmental regulations with no improvement since 2023. This means they are failing to pay the costs of collection and recycling of vapes which they are legally obliged to do. The research follows an analysis undertaken by Material Focus in 2023 which also identified that 90% of vape producers were not meeting their environmental obligations.
Material Focus also conducted research amongst 764 retailers in 13 cities across the UK who sell vapes, including high street leading brands, convenience stores and specialist vape stores. The research found that, despite legal obligations being in place since 1 January 2021, only 86 stores (11%) provided recycling points. Of the shops that were visited as part of the research, vape drop off points were available in 33% of 57 specialist vape retailers. However, high street brands provided very little or zero recycling drop-off points for vapes.
Sales of disposable single-use vapes are now around 360 million per annum with over 5 million of them thrown away every week, equivalent to 8 per second. Vapes contain a range of precious materials, including lithium and copper, which when thrown away are lost forever.
The analysis, which examined the company records of over 165 of the most significant vape and vape juice producers in the UK, identified that only 15 had registered to comply with environmental regulations for producer responsibility for waste electricals, portable batteries, and packaging. And yet all of the companies that were identified via Material Focus’s analysis had become a member of a vape industry trade association such as the UKVIA or IBVTA and also registered their products with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The companies identified have not registered with UK environment agencies for various environmental regulations which mandate that they contribute to the costs of recycling of the products and packaging they sell when they reach their end of life. Companies must register as a producer annually, depending on how many electricals they sell. Less than 5 tonnes per year – companies are required to register with their environmental regulator as a small producer. Or for more than 5 tonnes per year – pay to join a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) who will take on the companies obligations to finance the collection, treatment, recovering and disposal of WEEE.
Material Focus analysis has also identified that if all of the 360 million disposable single-use vapes that are bought in the UK per annum were financed to be recycled, as they should be by these producers, this would cost the producers up to £200 million per annum. At the end of 2022 Material Focus produced a briefing paper that sets out the environmental responsibilities of vape producers and retailers which has been widely shared across the industry.
Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus said: “Disposable single-use vapes are one of the most environmentally wasteful, damaging and dangerous consumer products ever made – losing valuable and critical raw materials, polluting land and waterways, posing hazards to wildlife and presenting major fire risks due to the volatility of the lithium batteries inside of them. The environmental responsibilities of vape producers and retailers are very clear. Any company that is producing significant quantities of electrical items is required to register, report their sales and finance the cost of their product being recycled. Retailers are also responsible for ensuring that it’s easy for their customers to recycle these products by providing recycling drop off points in their stores. This isn’t just an issue for specialist vape companies. Well known high street supermarkets, newsagents, petrol stations and convenience store chains are profiting from disposable vapes at significant cost to the environment and at major risk to the public and wildlife.”
“It is shocking that there has been so little progress since last year. As sales and profits have boomed the environmental impacts and costs of collecting and recycling waste vapes have been disregarded. With the forthcoming ban on single-use vapes due to be implemented in 2025 it is vital that the quarter of a billion plus vapes, that could be thrown away in the run up to the ban, are instead collected for recycling and that we put in place an effective and accessible system for managing the recycling of new vape products, such as pods already coming onto the market.”
“Anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled and should never be binned or litterred. To find your nearest recycling point search Recycle Your Electricals.
Disposable single-use vapes have a wide range of environmental impacts – the toxic materials contained in the pods such as nicotine liquid, they also contain some of the most precious materials on our planet such as lithium, and copper which are being lost forever when thrown away. Each disposable single-use contains on average 0.15g of lithium and according to GAP Group (electricals recycling company) on average 50 cms or 1.9g of copper cable. Vapes, as they contain lithium, also present a fire risk if they are disposed of incorrectly – over 700 fires are caused by the incorrect disposal of electricals containing hidden batteries, including vapes.”
According to calculations produced by Material Focus for all the disposable single-use vapes sold in the UK this would be equivalent to providing the batteries for over 6,700 electric car batteries in the UK. The number of vapes thrown away are contributing to the rising issue of FastTech, with millions of electricals thrown away.
For more information on how to recycle vapes, and to find your nearest recycling point please visit www.recycleyoureletricals.org.uk
ENDS
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For media enquiries please contact kate@materialfocus.org.uk mobile 07714 708416
The retailer research was undertaken during February 2024 across 13 cities in the UK, visiting 764 stores across the UK including Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Derby, Hereford, Lancaster, Leicester, London, Loughborough, Newcastle, Norwich, and Nottingham. Each store was carefully identified as a retailer of vapes, followed by the researchers locating the recycling points by checking for information and signage, as well as asking the shop assistants for information on where the recycling facilities are located.
The consumer market research was conducted by YouGov. The sample size was 5,156 adults, of which 167 were 16-17 year olds. Fieldwork was undertaken between 30th June – 31st August 2023. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults (aged 16+).
A copy of our previous research conducted by Opinium in 2022 amongst 4,000 adults can be found here.
About Material Focus and the Recycle Your Electricals campaign
Material Focus is a not-for-profit organisation whose goal is to stop the nation throwing away or hoarding all their old small electricals. Material Focus is delivering the UK-wide Recycle Your Electricals campaign. The campaign is revealing the value hidden in electricals and is making it easier for us all to recycle and reuse the small electricals we no longer need by providing more recycling points as well as providing practical information on how households can reuse and recycle.
The campaign is funded by producers of electrical appliances which pays for a range of activities, including communications, behaviour change activities, increased recycling projects and research. Ultimately the aim is to support actions that will help the UK increase the levels of reuse and recycling of waste electricals.
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