8.2 million vapes now thrown away, or recycled incorrectly, per week, according to a report by independent not-for-profit Material Focus. The issue of disposable vapes is not going away, it says, as producers introduce these new devices to avoid the new regulations set to come into place in June 2025. Material Focus forecast that these big puff vapes and other new vapes are set to cause significant environmental challenges post the disposable ban next year.
The new vapes research, commissioned by Material Focus, and conducted by Opinium found that these new big puff style vapes are set to grow and are fuelling the 8.2 million vapes thrown away including big puff, single use and single-use pod, compared to 5 million single-use last year.
‘Big puff style vapes’ have already surged onto the UK market in just six months with 3 million of these types of vapes now being bought a week, with 63% of puffs being taken on these vapes, Material Focus says.
It states: “This new style vape can hold up to 6,000 puffs per vape, with single use vapes averaging 600. Coming in at a price competitive 0.19 pence per puff for a big puff, compared to 0.83 pence per puff for a single-use vape, it’s no surprise that their popularity is surging, particularly amongst young people who are more likely to buy these new style of vapes – 48% of 16- to 34-year-olds compared to 36% of 35 to 55 year olds. With 3 million bought per week compared to 5.3 million single-use vapes, their popularity has soared in just six months.”
Material Focus argues that this continued rise in vapes being thrown away means their environmental impact continues to increase.
“All types of vapes are powered by lithium-ion batteries which, if binned, can get crushed or damaged and spark serious and dangerous fires in bin lorries and waste and recycling centres. Fires caused by vapes and other electricals with hidden batteries are on the rise across the UK.”
Material Focus research released in 2024 identified that the number of battery fires in the waste stream had increased to over 1,200 in the last year, an increase of 71% from 700 in 2022.
“These fires cause serious damage to the local community in addition to air pollution levels spikes in local areas, breaking WHO limits and affecting the health of local residents. Some of these fires are considered to be caused by vapes.”
Scott Butler, Executive Director, Material Focus said: “Without quick and extensive action, the threat of a vapocalypse remains and new big puff vape models are already contributing to an environmental nightmare. Vape producers are being infinitely creative with their products in order to avoid the forthcoming disposable vape ban. Whilst the current ban will take some of the most environmentally wasteful products off the market, we might need more flexible legislation to deal with the ongoing challenges of the new products surging onto the market. It’s good to see that more vape retailers are beginning to provide recycling facilities, and more people are recycling them. However this isn’t anywhere near enough to turn the tide. The majority of vapers are either unaware of where to recycle their vapes or don’t have a good experience of recycling them. It should be as easy to recycle a vape as it is to buy one. We want more vapers demanding that where they buy them provide recycling points as it is a legal obligation for all those who sell vapes to provide this after all.
“Vapes, like any other electrical with a plug, battery or cable, should never be binned and always be recycled as a minimum. We need rapid growth in the number of accessible and visible vape recycling drop-off points. And we need proper retailer and producer financing of genuine recycling solutions to recover materials and manage fire risks. The UK needs more accessible recycling drop-off points in stores, in parks, in public spaces near offices, bars and pubs, and in schools, colleges and universities.”
Photo Credit:
Image generated by author using Grok AI
![Dave Cross avatar](https://images.planetofthevapes.co.uk/101583/picture-19040-1687785177.jpg)
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.