OPINION: From the 1 June 2025, single-use vapes will be banned in the UK. While this will send a strong message and take some of the most damaging and dangerous vape models off the market, it won’t fix the problem.
Image credit: Amit Lennon
Millions of vapes are sold in the UK every week. And right now, most of them end up in the bin or littered. Our research at Material Focus found that a staggering 8.2 million vapes are thrown away or littered every week – that’s 13 every second.
Although single-use will no longer be legally sold, we are already seeing a significant rise in pod-based and “big-puff” vapes, which will still be available post-ban. With their competitive prices and the habit of disposable use locked into many vapers’ daily routines, these new models could become the next environmental headache unless producers and retailers take responsibility.
That’s why we need action now to make sure all vapes – whether disposable or reusable – are properly recycled. Retailers who sell them have a legal duty to take them back and vape producers or first UK importers are required to pay for their recycling.
Put simply, it should be as easy to recycle a vape as it is to buy one. But right now, too few people know that in-store recycling schemes exist, and far too many retailers aren’t providing them. Retailers have a key role to play in making it easier for people to recycle one of the most environmentally damaging products on the market.
With more and more vapes being binned instead of recycled, the environmental impact keeps getting worse. Every vape contains a lithium-ion battery, and when these end up in the bin, they can get crushed or damaged – causing serious and dangerous fires in bin lorries and at waste and recycling centres. Fires caused by vapes and other hidden battery electricals are on the rise. Material Focus’ research last year found that battery fires in the waste stream have shot up to over 1,200 – a huge jump from 700 in 2022.
To help vape producers and retailers comply with environmental regulations Material Focus has produced a briefing paper, “Vape recycling: retailers, producers and councils briefing”. It shows how vape producers and sellers can comply with their legal environmental obligations and how local authorities can access support for vapes that they collect.
This means offering in store takeback wherever they are sold and financing the costs of recycling and recovering the materials from them to support a more sustainable and circular economy.
Recycle Your Electricals is making it easier than ever to recycle your vapes through our postcode locator, which has over 17,000 vape recycling points across the UK. This tool makes it simple for people who vape to find their nearest drop-off point and dispose of their used vapes properly.
As the ban approaches, action is needed to make sure all vapes stop ending up in bins and on the streets. Those selling them must offer recycling schemes and comply with their legal responsibilities and make sure that they have these systems in place for the new vape products that are rapidly on the rise.
If they don’t? We’ll just be swapping one problem for another.
Real change will come when retailers and producers step up and make it just as easy to recycle a vape as it is to buy one.
Interesting article Scott. I really don’t know Deposit Return Schemes are not used for the capture of items such as vapes and household batteries, that can not be presented for collection in all kerbside collection methods, instead of using DRS for items that can be easily and safely recycled from home. It would take little (in comparison) in terms of infrastructure and logistics to implement and deliver, whilst taking out items from kerbside collections that present a real health, safety and environmental risk.