Discarded Disposable E-Cigarettes Surge in the UK, Urgent Need for Legislative Support

A recent study shows that the number of discarded disposable e-cigarettes in the UK has quadrupled in a year, increasing from 1.3 million per week to nearly 5 million.

The research by the non-profit organization MATerial Focus found that UK adults (aged 16 and above) purchase over 30 million disposable e-cigarettes each month, double the amount reported in a 2022 study of adults over 18, yet only 17% of buyers indicated they would take their e-cigarettes to local recycling centers. This means that most people treat disposable e-cigarettes as regular trash.

Donald McPhail, COO of waste management company Veolia UK, commented on the findings, stating: "While some e-cigarettes are disposable, that doesn't mean they can just be thrown in the bin."

"We need consumers to return e-cigarettes and batteries to designated recycling points so they can be safely processed and recycled to retain valuable lithium and plastic for new products. We also need e-cigarette manufacturers to design recyclable e-cigarettes that contain the key raw materials needed for our future energy supply."

McPhail added that the industry needs government support, as the country is far from achieving the 55% e-cigarette recycling target set by the Environment Agency.

"To improve this rate, we need to establish stronger policies and legislative positions to encourage eco-design and new recycling investments, and we need to act quickly. We need to create a separate product category for e-cigarettes under electrical and electronic equipment and ensure that all manufacturers are signed up to the producer responsibility list to properly implement the 'producer pays' model."