Vaping is Destroying the Planet—Here's Why

Jul 28, 2023

The last thing any vaper wants coming out of their vape is smoke. But the prevalence of disposable vapes—those that come with a self-contained liquid cartridge and are designed to last a certain number of puffs, as opposed to refillable ones—is posing a risk not only of fires, but also to the environment.

Part of the problem comes from the implication that disposables are just that: disposable, with spent devices usually ending up discarded on the street or in landfill. But even eco-friendly vapers face challenges with recycling the devices and the lithium—vital to the transition to a green economy—they contain.

Attempts are being made by some vaping brands to make disposables more sustainable, and sellers are pushing repetitive vapers towards refillable devices. But with five vapes being thrown away every second in the U.S. alone, environmental experts are calling for improved regulation of the industry.

Vaping proponents note that the devices are considered by healthcare authorities to be far safer than smoking, and cigarette butts—which count as single-use plastics that contain hundreds of toxic chemicals—remain the most commonly littered item in both the U.K. and U.S.

Still, according to estimates by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in 2022, 150 million devices are thrown away in the U.S. in a year—all of which contain lithium batteries, the materials within them being recyclable for use in a wide array of power sources, including electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The BIJ calculates that enough lithium is thrown away in such devices each year to power around 6,000 Teslas.

Demand for lithium due to the move towards EVs has seen its cost skyrocket. With the mineral being mined in a handful of places, prices have risen 500 percent in recent years while demand is expected to increase by 4,000 percent in the next two decades. Questions have also been raised of the environmental and human rights impact of such mining activities, so reusing lithium reduces the issues surrounding what remains a finite resource essential to tackling climate change.

In March, firefighters in Wiltshire, U.K., were called to a blaze that had been started after someone attempted to recharge a disposable vape. In 2020, the London Fire Brigade recounted how a man had been left with burns to his hand and leg after his vape short-circuited and exploded. Richard Bingham, who was left with scars, described the incident as "like a bomb going off in my pocket."

The fires are not limited to Britain: a July 2017 report by the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA) found that between 2009 and 2016, there were 195 fire incidents involving e-cigarettes, 133 of which resulted in acute injuries and 62 percent of which occurred when the device was on somebody's person.

While batteries in any devices have the propensity to combust, and there is a far greater risk of cigarette fires. The USFA says that the shape and construction of vapes makes them more likely to behave like "flaming rockets" when their battery fails.

Their combustibility still poses a risk when disposed. John P. Glover, managing director of Bywaters, a London-wide sustainable waste management firm, told Newsweek that while his crews had not experienced any vape-related injuries, "vape pens and items containing lithium batteries can be highly explosive when damaged or deformed," as they often are in the waste disposal process.

In March, a dumpster truck in Lincolnshire, U.K. had to shed its load after what was thought to be an improperly disposed vape caught fire, according to local reports. "The issue with lithium is that it can store far more energy than a conventional battery, and in case of damage or deformation, it can ignite violently," Glover said, adding his company had a team of fire marshals and water cannons at their facilities to protect against such events.

While posing a health risk, these incidents can cause other garbage to burn, which depending on its composition can release any number of potentially toxic chemicals. But vapes themselves are also comprised of materials that are considered toxic.

Sarah Mukherjee, CEO of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment, told Newsweek that "the environmental cocktail of a vape being set alight would potentially increase the environmental hazards." As well as electronics, vape cartridges cannot be recycled as they contain nicotine, which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists as an acute hazardous waste.

In the U.K., research in 2022 by Material Focus, a non-profit organization promoting electrical recycling, showed 50 percent of disposable vapes were thrown away, or 1.3 million a week. It said the lithium they contained amounted to 10 tons a year, enough to power 1,200 EVs.

"We will end up with a bigger and bigger problem," Mukherjee said. "We're using millions of them, and also not really thinking about strategically how we get the really important stuff inside vapes out to either use again in vapes or in something else."

As the Biden administration has already pushed the U.S. towards EV adoption through measures in the Inflation Reduction Act, and several states have brought in mandates for phasing out gas cars, supply presents a growing challenge for a key part of the president's green agenda. And with more disposables being thrown away, more of that precious lithium is ending up in landfill.

"Lithium is a finite resource, one that needs to be protected and repurposed to ensure we don't lose it from our ecosystem," Glover said.

"It's a really good example of how we are simply not getting to grips with a proper circular economy," Mukherjee said, noting that, according to a March 2023 report by Circle Economy, in the U.K. just 7.5 percent of consumed materials are used again.

"Vapes kind of crystallize the issue because, of course, they are full of those things that we know are in finite supply and that we need for a net zero future carbon economy like lithium, like copper," she added. The copper alone contained within disposables could "charge hundreds of thousands of homes," Mukherjee estimated.

Discarded vapes are polluting parks, rivers and beaches, the Marine Conservation Society says. "They're ending up everywhere, a bit like nanoplastics—on beaches, in wildlife areas, in areas that should be free of litter generally," Mukherjee noted.

Part of the issue is how disposables are viewed by consumers. "Vape pens tend to be marketed as disposable, leaving the average person believing they can recycle them at will," Glover said. "However, the lithium batteries inside vape pens make them difficult to break down."

"They're rather like disposable wipes," Mukherjee said. Whereas some wet wipes "are genuinely disposable down the loo, most aren't and will just block a toilet."

Attempts have been made to address the environmental impact of disposables. On April 21, manufacturer Innokin said it had introduced disposable models that used a reinforced card shell, reducing the amount of plastic used by 95 percent. Elfbar, a vape manufacturer which first made its name in disposables, told the BBC in October it recognized the issue, and planned to give retailers recycling boxes for collecting used vapes.

Mukherjee suggested that the environmental effects could be reduced by having disposables with an extended lifespan. While rechargeable disposable vapes are manufactured with enough liquid for 7,000 puffs, in the U.K. and EU, tanks are legally limited to 2 millilitres—or roughly 600 puffs, meaning more devices are used. She noted that this highlighted a need for healthcare regulations to consider the broader impacts they bring.

Disposables, though, are not the only option on the shelf. Thomas Brocksom, regional manager at VAPEx, a chain of vape stores in the north of England, told Newsweek: "In the five shops I manage, I often tell regular customers that use disposables regularly to switch to refillable vapes as they're cheaper and also result in less waste."

He said he had personally "helped thousands of people stop smoking by moving to disposable vapes," but noted that consumers "have to rely on bins that are unsuitable," prompting littering, and said the devices were becoming "a major problem as those responsible for waste disposal are not enabling safe, sustainable disposal."

While switching to refillable vapes may work for British consumers, in 2020 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned flavors other than menthol and tobacco for refillable vapes, but not disposables, meaning those attracted to vaping because of the flavors rely on disposables.

"For the environmental consequences alone, this position should be re-examined," a May 2022 article in The Lancet argued. "Vape waste is a preventable environmental disaster, but for this disaster to be averted, disposable e-cigarettes must be better regulated."

An FDA spokesperson stressed that when the regulations had been introduced, refillable vapes were the most commonly used among young people, and that the agency was able to shift its priority over time.

They added that FDA authorization usually includes an environmental assessment of a tobacco product, and that "there are presently no disposable e-cigarettes that are authorized for marketing or sale in the U.S. Companies must not market, distribute, or sell disposable e-cigarettes products in the U.S. or they risk FDA enforcement action."

Brocksom suggested that the risks associated with improper disposal would only increase in step with the popularity of disposable vapes unless local authorities improved access to recycling facilities. VAPEx itself provides disposable recycling bins in-store, but he said "it can be hard for the average Joe to do that" if they're not nearby.

"We've seen with other recycling initiatives, you have to make it as easy as possible for people to do it to support behavior change," Mukherjee said. "What are you going to do? Carry a bag of 20 vapes around, just hoping you'll find somebody who may or may not recycle them? It becomes very difficult."

Unlike other electronic devices, disposables contain multiple elements that make recycling them harder—but not impossible. Because of how they are constructed, they can be hard to dismantle, and doing so risks piercing the battery, which can cause it to explode. But without dismantling, the lithium battery cannot be recycled at battery banks, and Glover said vapes "should never be thrown into recycling or general bins."

"You can recycle them, but it's not easy, it's not as mainstream as battery recycling," Mukherjee said. "And at the moment is quite limited."

She suggested making manufacturers responsible for recycling, and implementing targets on reuse. "There's a real opportunity at the moment to think about how we can make sure that these really kind of finite resources never leave the system," Mukherjee added. "They could just keep being used within the economy. You create jobs, you reduce litter—also, it's something that you can really feel good about."

As studies have shown vapers tend to be younger, and research has found younger people tended also to care more about climate change, she argued that increased sustainability could also attract customers to vaping brands that take up the charge.

When it comes to recycling such devices, America is miles behind. As the article in The Lancet put bluntly: "Because vape waste contains both electronic and hazardous waste, there is currently no legal way to recycle disposable e-cigarettes in the U.S.A."

Newsweek approached the EPA and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, which regulates vapes in the U.K., via email for comment on Wednesday.