Colchester City Council is encouraging residents to dispose of vapes safely and recycle them.
Three million vapes are binned in the UK every week! That includes rechargeables, single-use and rechargeable vapes with a single use chamber. Vapes are quickly becoming part of the fastest growing waste stream in the UK. They might be called disposable, but they can and should be recycled.
There is also a growing issue across the UK with vapes being put in general household rubbish bags or wheelie bins. Each vape contains a battery, which when impacted by the crusher in our bin lorries can ignite and cause a fire in the vehicle, putting crews and vehicles in serious danger.
Cllr Martin Goss, Colchester City Council Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Waste, said: “Unfortunately the majority of vapes and batteries discarded in the UK are not disposed of properly. Fires caused by carelessly discarded batteries endanger lives; cause millions of pounds of damage and can disrupt waste services.
“Colchester residents have a number of options to safely dispose of their vapes and batteries, including by returning them to the shop they bought them from and dropping them off at the Household Recycling Centres. The batteries are then recycled which is even better for the environment.
“Although we haven’t had a vehicle fire in Colchester directly related to vape batteries yet, we have had two fires caused by batteries in the last 12 months and only a matter of time before one is caused by a vape. We take the safety of our crews very seriously and ask that all our residents do this too. I urge residents to recycle vapes, electrical items and batteries in a safe way by using one of the recycling collection points across the city.”
Find your nearest electrical collection point where you can safely recycle vapes.
Visit the council’s website for more tips on reducing your rubbish and recycling electrical items and batteries safely.
Page last reviewed: 24 April 2023