Disposable e-cigarettes are popular because of their convenience and affordability. You can buy disposable e-cigarettes online from Vape Globe and they come ready to use right out of the box. This convenience comes with one major problem: you don’t know what to do with the e-cigarette!
Unfortunately, most people throw disposable e-cigarettes in the trash - an estimated 1.3 million disposable e-cigarettes are thrown away every week. This creates a lot of waste electrical products, so people can't help but ask, can disposable e-cigarettes be recycled? We created this guide to help you understand everything you need to know about e-cigarette recycling and disposable e-cigarettes.
Can disposable e-cigarettes be recycled?
Good news! Disposable e-cigarettes can be recycled, and we encourage you to recycle them rather than throwing them away. The same goes for rechargeable e-cigarettes; if you’ve been using an e-cigarette kit for a while and want to upgrade to a new one, recycle the old kit instead of throwing it away.
Why recycle e-cigarettes?
E-cigarette recycling will help reduce plastic waste and discarded electronics. Disposable e-cigarettes are made from a variety of materials, including plastics and electrical components. Putting them in your household bin means they end up in landfill and add to your carbon emissions.
Recycling disposable e-cigarettes means reducing waste emissions and helping to recycle valuable electronic devices. Disposable e-cigarettes contain key resources that can be reused in other products. Lithium-ion batteries can be disassembled and repurposed to help produce products such as electric car batteries. Some experts estimate that if all disposable e-cigarettes sold in the UK were recycled, it would be the equivalent of making 5,000 electric car batteries !
Therefore, in order to avoid the loss of these resources, e-cigarettes must be properly disposed of. There are many ways to do this, and many ways not to do this, so let's take a deep dive into the best practices for recycling disposable e-cigarettes.
What to do with e-cigarettes: Key tips for e-cigarette recycling
When you are done with your disposable e-cigarette, you may be inclined to place it in your household recycling bin. This may seem like the easiest way to recycle disposable e-cigarettes, but it is extremely unwise. Follow these tips for better and more efficient e-cigarette recycling:
Check your local council website
The first step in disposing of disposable e-cigarettes is to check your local council website. It will provide you with information on how to find a local recycling facility that accepts disposable e-cigarettes or an e-cigarette recycling scheme in your area .
This is a crucial step in ensuring your disposable e-cigarettes are recycled correctly. If you leave your disposable e-cigarettes outside your house in a bag and there is no e-cigarette recycling scheme near you, then they will not be recycled. Similarly, if there is a scheme to recycle them from your property, you can save yourself the hassle of going to a nearby household waste recycling centre.
Separating disposable e-cigarette components
Even though a recycling center handles electrical and electronic equipment, it doesn’t mean you can go there and throw your disposable e-cigarette directly into the recycling bin. You have to disassemble the device and separate the following parts:
- Plastic housing
- E-cigarette oil container
- Battery
All disposable e-cigarettes we sell are from brands that can be easily taken apart. Usually just twist or pull the items and they will come unhooked from each other. Once the battery and e-liquid cartridge have been removed, you can throw the plastic casing away with your normal plastic waste at home. As long as there is no electrical waste, it will be fine.
How to recycle disposable e-cigarette oil cartridges
All disposable e-cigarettes come with an e-liquid cartridge, and you must make sure it's empty before you try to recycle it. Rinse it out and you can then put it in your usual plastic recycling bin - depending on what kind of plastic it's made of. If you're unsure, contact the council and they will direct you to a local recycling centre to dispose of the cartridge safely.
How to recycle disposable e-cigarette batteries
Once you have removed the batteries from your disposable e-cigarettes, recycling them is fairly easy. You can treat them like any other electrical and electronic device. Go to a nearby battery recycling point and drop them off there. Likewise, many household waste recycling centres will have battery recycling points, so going there can kill two birds with one stone.
Alternatively, depending on where you live, there may be a household recycling service that collects batteries door-to-door.
See if a vape shop is willing to accept your vapes
Some vape shops don’t just sell e-cigarettes, they’re also part of an e-cigarette recycling scheme. One of the most popular schemes is Biffa’s Vape Takeback , which allows shop owners to safely recycle e-cigarettes. This includes the e-cigarette itself, the external battery, and the e-liquid bottle.
If you go to a store, you can just hand them your old e-cigarette without having to take it apart . This is very convenient and could help reduce the 1.3 million disposable e-cigarettes that are thrown away every week.
Contact Manufacturer
Can't find any vape shops in your area that will allow you to recycle your old e-cigarettes? Go online to see if the manufacturer is willing to recycle your e-cigarettes. We know you can contact Elf to recycle Elf Bars and old Elf vape kits - many other vape brands do this too.
Contact them and they will tell you where to send your e-cigarette so it can be properly recycled. Likewise, you can send them the entire device and they will take care of disassembly, etc.
Stop wasting electronics and start recycling disposable e-cigarettes today
Do you know how many e-cigarettes are discarded every day and how much they affect the environment? Recycling your e-cigarettes will help you reduce plastic waste and recover valuable electrical products/resources.
Knowing how to safely dispose of used e-cigarettes is key to solving any problems. In short, don't throw used e-cigarettes or e-cigarette kits into household or public trash bins. Search online to see if your municipality accepts e-cigarettes at a nearby recycling center, or visit a vape shop to see if they will accept your products and recycle them.
If you choose to go to a recycling center, you must disassemble the e-cigarette and recycle each component separately! This ensures that the plastic is recycled and the battery inside is safely recycled.
Together we can eliminate the millions of disposable e-cigarettes that end up in landfills every week and create a more sustainable future!