Five million disposable vapes are thrown away each week in the UK, a fourfold increase over the past year, according to research from recycling campaign group Material Focus. Only 17% of vapers recycle their vapes in the correct recycling bins, the research found. Vapes can cause fires in bin lorries and waste treatment facilities if not disposed of correctly. The vaping industry says it is working to improve recycling rates. Disposable vapes, cheap plastic devices designed to give a few hundred puffs of nicotine vapour before being thrown away, are often discarded in bins and on roadsides. By law, every shop that sells vapes is meant to take them back, but it is a facility that costs money to provide, and many do not. The potential annual cost of recycling all those vapes would be £200m, a cost which is not being met by producers, importers or retailers, they say.
