How To Responsibly Recycle Your Disposable Vapes

Disposable vapes are one of, if not the most popular, vaping products in the world today. With hundreds of different flavours to choose from across plenty of brands, both big and small, vapers have never had such variety at their disposal.

But with thousands upon thousands of disposable vapes being sold and thrown away each day, what impact is this having on the environment? And how are we supposed to throw away these disposable vapes responsibly? Don't worry; we'll answer all these questions and more in this blog.

But first, let's examine the facts and figures to show why properly disposing of these disposable vapes is so important.

Disposable vapes have all the same components as reusable vapes. However, they're modified to fit the parameters of a disposable, such as a smaller tank and battery, a cheap plastic outer casing, and non-removable parts. Here's what your disposable vape is made of:

• A Plastic outer casing

• Lithium-ion battery

• Small tank to hold e-liquid

• Metal coil

• Cotton wicking material

Responsibly disposing of your disposables is crucial to protecting the environment. Check out these facts and figures to see the amount of electrical waste old disposable vape create:

• In 2023 alone, the UK threw away 5 million disposable vapes every week. This number will only increase as more and more people take up vaping.

• According to a 2023   BBC report with figures from the research firm NielsenIQ, over 360 million disposable vapes were sold, which equates to around 30 million a day - a truly obscene amount. 

• Research from Material Focus found that only  17% of vapers recycle their disposable vapes  properly,

•  73% just throw them in the bin.

•   1% dispose of them by flushing them down the toilet. 

• With batteries made from Lithium, incorrectly disposing of disposable vapes can have dire consequences - not because of the fire hazard they pose, but the harm they can cause to the environment.

So we've seen the figures, and with that many disposable vapes being thrown away, you can imagine their impact on the environment.  Disposable vape batteries are made from Lithium, a finite resource. In 2022, it was predicted that globally, we would consume half a million metric tonnes, and by 2035, that number has been predicted to jump to 3.7 million metric tonnes.  

Mining Lithium also produces significant environmental hazards and requires vast resources. So we all must do our part to recycle it.

Unfortunately, research by McKinsey and Company has shown that even though 80% of Lithium can be recovered from dead batteries, only 6% of the primary supply will be recycled by 2030. 

So, what can we do to help protect the environment and dispose of these disposable vapes responsibly?

Despite so many people just throwing disposable vapes away, they can be recycled. This can be done in several ways, including popping them in a vape disposable bin, returning them to an electrical retailer, or recycling them with WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) items at a HWRC (Household Waste Recycle Centre). 

The disposable vapes are then taken to a recycling facility, where they're disassembled, sorted into separate components, and recycled alongside the same materials. The only part that can't be recycled is the cotton wick since it's been heavily contaminated by e-liquid and possibly burnt.

You'll notice that somewhere on the device will be a crossed-out wheelie bin when you purchase disposables. This indicates that this product should NOT be thrown into the general waste. However, when disposables are thrown away in bins and taken to landfill sites, they run the risk of starting fires, which is dangerous. But when they begin to decompose, they leak highly harmful chemicals, which can cause irreparable environmental damage.

To help counteract this, there are a few ways you can dispose of your disposable vapes to help keep the environment safe and increase the amount of recycled Lithium brought back into circulation.

1. Curbside Collection 

Some councils offer a curbside collection service (like Sheffield and Oxford, to name a few) and provide recycling bags or bins to safely dispose of your electronic waste, which are collected just like regular rubbish bins. This is the easiest method of disposal. However, not all local authorities have this option, which Defra was asked to review in 2022.

2. Household Recycling Centres 

The second way to safely recycle your disposables is to take them to a household recycling centre. These centres have bins specifically for recycling electronic devices, and you can use  this site  to find the nearest one to you.

3. Supermarket Battery Bins 

Finally, most supermarkets have dedicated battery bins to safely dispose of old and dead batteries, including your finished disposables. You can even find electronic recycling bins in car parks and roadside areas.

With the UK government banning the sale and supply of disposable vapes from June 1st 2025, it may be wise to start switching over to refillable and rechargeable devices - and as it happens, there are loads of great options to choose from.

You may consider a pod kit, which provides excellent MTL (mouth-to-lung) vaping. There are plenty of devices to choose from, from excellent companies such as Uwell, Voopoo, and OXVA. They're all rechargeable, and with the thousands of nic salt e-liquid flavours to try—many of which are inspired by classic disposable flavours—your vaping needs will most definitely be well looked after.

A big puff vape is for you if you'd prefer something a little closer to a disposable vape. These kits contain bigger batteries and a much larger puff count than their smaller disposable cousins. Almost all of them these days are rechargeable and have pre-filled replacement pods available for purchase. The ones that aren't rechargeable or refillable must be disposed of correctly—just use the methods listed above!

I hope you better understand how to dispose of your disposable vapes correctly. There are plenty of reasons to recycle them - from the planet's health to the reuse of the finite Lithium in their batteries. And why the UK ban on disposable vapes will initially be frustrating to a lot of vapers who rely on them; protecting the environment and the health of minors must come first.

With plenty of disposable vape alternatives to choose from, switching over should be a breeze for most vapers. If we all do our bit to responsibly dispose of and recycle the disposables we have left, perhaps we can leave the planet in a better state than it's now.

With plenty of disposable vape alternatives to choose from, switching over should be a breeze for most vapers, and if we all do our bit to responsibly dispose of and recycle the disposable vapes we have left, perhaps we can leave the planet in a better state than it's in now.