A waste management company has issued a warning that people continue to throw away a 'banned' item in their rubbish that millions of Brits use every day. Throwing this item away not only risks instant fines of £600, it also endangers workers, with many still unaware of the rules.
Disposable Vapes: A Persistent Problem
Carla Brian from Biffa shared that despite regulations on disposable vapes being implemented a year ago, people throwing them away continues to be a significant issue. Current regulations prohibit vapes from being thrown away in general waste – yet thousands of individuals do so daily.
She told BBC Breakfast that the company found 200,000 vapes in waste last month across just four recycling facilities. Ms Brian added that roughly 5 fires occur each day as a direct consequence of vapes being thrown in household bins. Biffa is now advocating for a deposit of up to £5 to be placed on vapes to incentivise consumers to dispose of them properly.
Lack of Awareness Leads to Fires
She told BBC Breakfast: 'The awareness that's out there and the risks that are associated with putting vapes in household containers isn't enough. So, what we want is a consumer behavior change and that being that consumers take their vapes back to the stores that they bought them, that they're legally obligated to do so and to take those back and we think an incentive is the way to do that.'
The BBC presenter highlighted that despite a year having passed since the disposable vape ban, fires are still occurring at an alarming rate. Ms Brian said: 'It's a huge problem across the industry. Roughly around five fires a day are happening and that's from household collection vehicles like the one behind me and commercial vehicles. Last month alone in our four biggest recycling facilities that treat household waste, we saw over 200,000 vapes contained within the waste.'
Legal Consequences and Fire Risks
In the UK, disposing of a vape in your standard household rubbish or recycling bins is illegal, with offenders facing fines of up to £600 under household waste duty of care regulations. Given that vapes contain lithium-ion batteries, placing them in ordinary bins poses a significant fire risk in both bin lorries and waste processing facilities, reports the Express.
The Environmental Services Association (ESA) has put forward a proposal whereby a deposit would be levied on vapes at the point of purchase, which would then be refunded to customers upon correct disposal of the device. Vapes are already accepted at the retailers from which they were purchased – who are obliged to provide return facilities – or can be dropped off at local recycling centres.
Banned Disposal Methods
The following disposal methods are strictly banned:
- Placing vapes in general waste bins
- Putting them in standard recycling
- Discarding them in the environment
The ESA argues that any deposit scheme would need to be large enough to genuinely motivate consumers to dispose of vapes properly. Patrick Brighty, ESA's head of recycling policy, said: 'Despite the ban, each week operators across the waste sector continue to see hundreds of thousands of carelessly discarded vapes arrive at their facilities hidden among other waste, which poses a major fire risk. Vapes discarded with other rubbish are also unlikely to be recycled, which is a chronic waste of the precious materials they contain.'
He cautioned that the current infrastructure for collecting and recycling vapes was 'currently underperforming' owing to inadequate incentives for consumers to use it. The number of vapes thrown away each week has fallen since disposables were banned, but only from 8.2 million per week to around six million, according to recycling organisation Material Focus.
Industry and Local Government Reactions
Biffa, the UK's largest waste company, has suggested a £5 deposit, although this would require consultation if the proposal progresses.
Chairwoman of the LGA's health and wellbeing committee, councillor Dr Wendy Taylor, said year two of the ban must focus on enforcement and closing the 'loophole' of these vapes. She said: 'A year on, the volume of vapes in our bins has dropped, but industry has moved faster than regulation - the products causing fires in our bin lorries today are effectively the same disposables in a different shell.'
Marcus Saxton, chairman of the Independent British Vape Trade Association, conceded there was 'more to be done' in encouraging people to recycle vapes. Nevertheless, he warned that a deposit scheme would encourage people to buy from illegal retailers who didn't make them pay it.
