OPINION: Last week the WEEE regulations were updated to provide a specific category for Vapes – they will no longer be classified as “toys”. In addition, online marketplaces selling Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) will now have to also fund the collection and treatment of these items in the same way as other retailers.
The UK is facing a growing epidemic of battery-related fires in both bin lorries and at waste management facilities which threatens lives, communities, vital infrastructure and the environment. It’s costing the waste industry £1 billion a year.
Whether discarded in a recycling bin, black bin bags at home, or litter bins out and about – on their own or hidden inside electronic devices – batteries wreak havoc when they are not disposed of at a specialist takeback point, or at a supermarket or any other designated location. Vapes, in particular, have risen in popularity in recent years, but disposal behaviour hasn’t caught up with the trend, with many of them being discarded in any nearby bin or even littered on the ground. This is too often because of a lack of understanding of the fire hazard lithium batteries pose even when they appear to have run out of charge.
Lithium-ion batteries, those found in many small electrical items such as disposable vapes, but also smartphones, e-bikes and digital cameras, can easily overheat and ignite. This happens when the items are exposed to heat, damaged or crushed (common processes when entering the back of a waste collection vehicle or going through a waste management facility). When a fire starts in a vehicle carrying 10 tonnes of waste, or in a facility storing far greater quantities of waste, it can cause significant damage and risks people’s life or injury. Both to those nearby or working.
There are vape and battery recycling points in some stores, which are then emptied and collected for safe disposal. These have had some success but broadly speaking individuals are not aware that they shouldn’t dispose of lithium batteries and items like vapes that contain lithium batteries in general waste. Vapes and lithium batteries must be disposed of at Household Waste Recycling Centres (a designated collection facility like the ones Biffa provides), or in a vape recycling bin (often found at your local supermarket store) or taken back to the shop where they were brought. In some areas, the Local Authority will also offer a battery collection service, but this is not UK wide.
We’re working closely with Local Authorities and Defra to look at how we can come together to create sustainable solutions, and we believe that kerbside collection of small electrical equipment including vapes, would go a long way to manage electrical waste safely and significantly reduce fires impacting the industry, our employees, communities, and individuals.
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