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Discover how to clean and prepare your vape kit for disposal, ensuring handling of batteries and e-liquids.
Disposable vape kits are getting media attention for all the wrong reasons. The one use nature of these devices mean that users might throw away one a week. Designed to last only a few days before the battery dies or you exceed the puff limit, there is now the problem of improper disposal.
Single use vapes are beginning to clog up the countryside… but what if we told you there was an environmentally friendlier way to use a vape device? Reusable pod kits and vape devices give you all the flavour you would get from a disposable vape. With plusses in battery life and a tank you can refill when your e-liquid runs out, there is no reason why you shouldn’t switch to reusable vapes.
What if we surprised you further by telling you that many of the vape devices we use can be recycled – or at least parts of them can. This article explores how you can recycle & dispose of your vape kit, when you are finished using it.
The massive volume at which the UK gets through disposable vapes is estimated to have reached 5 million. The more people take up the habit of vaping, the greater this number has become. This figure is an increase on last year’s estimates of between 1.2 and 1.3 million per week.
Research conducted by insurers sets the number of improperly disposed of vapes at around 2 million. If these figures are to be believed, then as many as two million vape kits could go to landfill each year.
The problem doesn’t end with the volume of plastic this puts into our habit. When people throw away these devices, the addictive and poisonous nicotine stored inside the device can leak back into the environment. If there is any poisonous material within the battery, this might also impact the land.
As a result, local councils throughout the UK have called for a ban on single use vapes. If you use these, continue reading to find out how to properly dispose of them. Don’t forget to stock up on your favourite disposables before potential bans come into place. Buying e-liquid in bulk can save you money, long term.
When you do decide to finish with your disposable vape device, you should not separate the parts. Instead, make sure that the battery is completely empty before you throw it away.
Next, you have a choice in where to take it. Your local county recycling plant will have a storage and disposal bin for these. You might also return the products to a vape shop, who should have separate bins for them. don’t forget you can pick up your disposable kits through www.vapedirect.com or in our Milton Keynes stores.
The reason we never throw disposable vapes into the recycling or trash with any battery present is due to the fire hazard this creates. With enough of the wrong gases, a spark from a disposable vape can cause a fire in a bin lorry, particularly on a hot day.
If you have a refillable vape device, you can recycle the parts separately when it is no longer useful to you. Unscrew the mouthpiece from the tank, then remove the tank. Use a sheet of kitchen roll to soak up any extra e-liquid which may still be inside the tank or on the coil.
Next, remove the tank entirely, with or without the coil. This varies depending on the device. You should be left with only the part you hold in your hand, which is usually the battery pack and buttons. Soak all the parts except the battery part in hot soapy water. This will remove the last traces of debris, saving it from landfill.
Now dispose of the cleaned parts in the following ways:
You can find top tips on cleaning your vape kit right here on our website.
If you have a pile of disposable vapes and want to do your best by your local recycling plant or vape shop, then you can break them down yourself. Be especially careful about removing the battery. Always wear gloves and make sure the battery is dead before you begin.
Remove the outer coating of plastic and put it in the regular bin. Next, located the tank part of the device and separate it from the battery pack. You may take the battery pack to the vape store or recycling centre.
Find the tank and clean it using hot soapy water, a piece of kitchen roll to soak up the remnants of liquid, and then you can discard these in your glass recycling bin.
When you use a refillable vape, you ought to be able to break it down into its component parts. This makes life easier for you should something break. The main reasons why you would need to dispose of a refillable vape are because you have bought an upgrade or because part of the device has become broken through wear and tear.
The easiest type of vape device to break down into parts is a mod kit. You can shop for vape kit mods in our online vape store. You can also recycle your old tank and buy your fresh vape kit tanks while you are there. The tanks may be cleaned, the coil removed, and the glass disposed of. However, if you have a vape tank with a connected coil then you may wish to take this to the recycling centre or your local vape shop.
The mouthpiece cannot be recycled if it is plastic. You can take it to the store too. Make sure you give all the components except the battery a thorough wash.
If you think your battery has become damaged then you should immediately dispose of the device and stop using it. Wait for the charge to completely run out, and then take it to your local vape shop or to your local recycling centre. We have stores in Neath Hill, Milton Keynes, and even in Buckingham.
Fortunately a leaking, damaged, or short-circuiting battery pack for a vape device is a fixable problem. Once you have properly disposed of the original battery – remembering to handle it with gloves on or not at all – then you are free to buy the replacement battery pack. You can buy replacement vape kit batteries through our UK vape shop.
Why buy a replacement battery once you take your old one to the vape shop or recycling centre? The cost of a battery is far less than the cost of replacing your entire vape device. You can easily remove the component parts of a vape or pod kit and dispose of them individually so that you can replace them in the same way.
The rules for disposing of expired and unused e-liquid which has become stale is similar to how we dispose of it while preparing broken tanks for the recycling centre.
If you do not know how long a vape juice has been opened for, you should not use it. If the date of expiry is past, do not use it. If you notice any change to the texture, colour, or flavour of the e-liquid, do not take the risk. Pick up fresh e-liquid from our online store instead.
You cannot pour vape juice down the drain as it might get into the water table. Nicotine is harmful to animals and plant life, so it is important that you soak it all up in old paper or rags. You can then dispose of these in the trash.
Use a piece of kitchen roll to soak up the remaining juices and then wash the bottles in hot soapy water. The bottles can then be safely placed in the recycle bin.
Visit our online vape store for a choice in vape juices, one of which is sure to match your device. Can’t find what you are looking for? Contact one of our stores and we will try our best to find it for you.
Since most vape kits break down into the separate components of the battery, tank, mouthpiece, and e-liquid, you can break it down and dispose of any part which requires replacement. For example, if the glass becomes smashed or irreconcilably dirty, you can clean it, toss it in the recycling, and buy replacement glass through our Milton Keynes store.
There is no real use for a vape kit battery or charger. You should take these to your local vape shop or council run recycling plant. There they will strip the batteries and recycle the lithium used.
You can recycle the coil in your vape device too. Remove the cotton or wick from it and place this in the trash. Next, wash the metal part in hot, soapy water. You can recycle metal and glass mouthpieces in this way. You may also recycle certain types of plastic from your device to. If in doubt, take it to the professionals.
The best two places to go to recycle your vape kit are:
We should be extremely careful about cleaning these products before we dispose of them. Cross-contamination between other recyclable objects could see the entire batch of goods taken to landfill, instead.
There should be no real argument about whether or not your vape kit is recyclable. Similarly, there ought to be instructions given on each packet sold. As a rule, as long as we break the vape devices we are disposing of down into the component parts, we can separate them effectively enough for recycling in the correct manner.
What we need now is a better plan to educate the average vape device user on the proper disposal of their devices. If we look at the evidence and see that even disposable vapes can be recycled, then we need to refocus our aim. 2 million disposable vape devices tossed away on our streets each year isn’t the cause of the manufacturer producing the device. It is caused by the apathy of a generation of vape users who are not armed with the correct information regarding how to dispose of the product after use.
We need education, not bans on disposable devices.
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