Calls for a return scheme for vapes to reduce fire risks at material recycling facilities

Single-use vapes were legally banned in the UK in June last year, following a long campaign due to the environmental and health impacts inherent in single-use vapes. The campaign was supported from the start by Casepak because of the impacts vapes have, but also their potential for causing fires in bin lorries and in recycling facilities.

But, despite the ban, a recent report has estimated that more than 6 million vapes and vape pods are still being discarded every week in the UK. The huge volume of discarded vapes, often put in bins with other recycling, is causing enormous problems for waste management companies, and the fire risk seems to be increasing.

At any waste and recycling site there is always potential for fire, as we at Casepak found out to our horror two years ago when we tackled a fire at our MRF. At multinational company Suez, they had 670 fires across their UK sites during 2025. Of those fires, 368 were confirmed to be caused by batteries or vapes, and another 176 were suspected to be caused by vapes, but this was not proven.

There were high hopes that the ban on single-use vapes would go a long way to reducing the threat, but unfortunately that hasn’t materialised. The vaping industry has circumvented the new law by moving to ‘refillable’ devices, rather than single-use. This usually means a battery-operated device is now sold with two pods, making it multiple use and getting around the law. But these are essentially still disposable vapes, and ironically the ban has seen a growth in the use of these devices that have bigger lithium-ion batteries, increasing the fire risk and environmental damage.

Part of the problem with vapes is around education. Many people are unaware that vapes should not simply be thrown away but should instead be taken to dedicated electrical recycling points. More concerning is that, in thinking they are doing a good thing, vapers put their vapes in their recycling bins alongside their plastic, paper, glass and cans, thinking that they can be recycled.

The 6 million vapes discarded every week have become a huge issue, that is taking resources away from other areas of recycling to deal with, and we think that several things need to be considered to resolve the issue.

The first thing is a government run education campaign, targeted specifically at vapers, clearly explaining the inherent dangers when disposing of vapes and making it clear (despite the recycling sign being used on boxes), that vapes and pods cannot go in mixed recyclables, or in general waste bins.

The education campaign should also make vapers aware of the takeback services provided by retailers, who are legally obliged to accept them. In addition, used vapes can be taken to one of the thousands of electrical recycling points around the country.

A further potential solution is to introduce a return scheme, whereby people can get their deposit back when they return their empty vapes and pods to a recognised recycling point. Reminiscent of similar schemes for glass bottles that were widespread during the 1960s and 1970s, the vape return scheme could provide a financial inducement to recycle. This would mean there would be a great incentive for vapers to keep their empties and return them in bulk to redeem a sizeable amount of cash.

In October 2027 the Government is introducing the Deposit Return Scheme for drinks containers across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The UK’s waste and recycling industry would very much welcome a similar scheme for vapes being introduced in the same way.