Vape recycling

When partnering with Reconomy for your vape recycling, we will provide you with a storage container for unwanted and used vapes for you to store, ready for our team to arrive on-site, collect, and manage disposal in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

Vape recycling for businesses

Did you know that in the last 10 years, the number of people using disposable vapes within the UK has increased from 800,000 to over 4.3 million? With more disposable vapes and e-cigarettes being used than ever before, they have become an unwanted environmental headache that poses a significant threat to hazardous materials entering landfill sites.

Reconomy, the leading provider of technology-enabled services to drive the circular economy, has recognised the challenges posed by disposable vapes and is launching a vape recycling service in the United Kingdom. When partnering with Reconomy for your vape recycling, we will provide you with a storage container for unwanted and used vapes for you to store, ready for our team to arrive on-site, collect, and manage disposal in the most environmentally friendly way possible.

How does vape recycling work?

Old vapes are disposed of in dedicated containers, supplied by Reconomy.

The vapes will be collected and transported to a recycling facility.

The vapes are then sorted by hand and separated into different brands.

Once sorted, operatives will then start batch processing.

Firstly, the end cap of the vape is removed.

The contents of the vape is then ejected, and the materials are separated

The plastics and metal are processed, and the batteries are sent to ABTO/ABE for recycling. The wick, filter and nicotine parts are sent for incineration as requested by The Environment Agency.

The dangers of disposable vapes

Due to disposable vapes containing a potent mixture of plastic, copper, and a lithium battery – the latter of which is hazardous – they are extremely difficult to recycle. It is estimated that approximately 1.3 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week in the UK*, that’s equal to an eye-watering 67.6 million per year.

Disposable vapes also represent a health & safety risk if not disposed of properly. The lithium batteries they contain are highly flammable and have been responsible for fires in bin lorries and injuries to workers at waste processing centres.

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