As the vaping culture picks up pace amongst the youth, there are millions of e-cigarettes with no proper place for disposal. As per the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, at least five disposable cigarettes are discarded every second in the United States. That approximates to a staggering 150 million devices annually. Where do all of these cigarettes end up then? Unfortunately, in landfills. In a recent survey carried out by the Truth Initiative, more than half of the young people who use e-cigarettes dispose of them in trash with less than quarter of them resorting to recycling measures. 

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Single use e-cigarettes are the most commonly used variety of e-cigarettes according to a survey carried out in 2023. These devices consist of lithium-ion batteries and e-liquids confined in a plastic casing. The problem these devices cause when they are dumped in landfills is the leakage of toxic substances into the ground. Additionally, they also sometimes explode and cause fires at trash sites and recycling plants. 

Till date, regulatory agencies and e-cigarette manufacturers have failed to devise clear guidelines on the disposal of these devices. This has led to hundreds of e-cigarette users unsure on how to discard their used devices. A large part of users get rid of them in trash while others store them. 

Delving into a study carried out by the Truth Initiative we found out that in a sample population of 1313 young American adults that was set aside for carrying out this research, around 52.9% casted off their old e-cigarettes in the trash. Only around 13% reported recycling, whether regular or electronic. The remaining 21.4% of that sample population kept their empty vapes with them. 

The popularity and usage of e-cigarettes escalated after they were removed from the federal restrictions in 2020. Following this exemption, they became freely available in the market taking their use to a record 1000% in 2019 and 2020, amongst high-schoolers who smoked. The surge did not stop here. In 2022, the usage increased by another 50% making disposable cigarettes the most popular form in the US market. 

This study also revealed that most young users of one-time cigarettes store their used devices, most likely due to ambiguity around safe disposal options for them. Some previous studies also showed that young users were aware of the negative environmental impact of disposable cigarettes but due to a lack of proper disposal options they are unable to adopt safe disposal habits. 

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The most alarming aspect of the entire situation is that safe recycling options and clearly mapped out disposal guidelines are still non-existent for single use cigarettes. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises users to bring their used e-cigarettes and other types of disposable cigarettes to a hazardous waste collection site where they dismantle the cigarettes and remove the components that are a threat for the environment, namely the lithium batteries and the e-liquid. However, this procedure cannot be employed as a rule of thumb, since many disposable cigarettes are not designed to be tampered with and can cause explosions and fire accidents if their batteries are punctured or attempted to be taken apart. 

To tackle the e-cigarette waste issue there is a need to develop clear guidelines by manufacturers for the safe disposal of these devices. Additionally, the government needs to hold the manufacturers accountable for developing and ensuring the employment of environmentally safe disposal protocols. Furthermore, these products need to be designed in a fashion that is more easily recyclable, for example they should have removable batteries. 

Recycle Technologies is a certified e-waste recycling company that values innovation and deployment of modern-day techniques to address the complex recycling issues created by technology. We are a futuristic company and we strive to offer practical solutions for advanced problems that arise with the progress in electronic equipment. By using tech-backed processes and giving value to research we have helped hundreds of businesses and communities across the USA to safely dispose of their e-waste and contribute to the health of the planet by embarking on the sustainability journey with us.