There’s a wrong way to get rid of your empty disposable vape
Bel Moran
To say that Gen Z has a vaping problem is a serious understatement. Digging through the weekend’s trash at any given college campus will yield pounds of plastic disposable e-cigarettes, empty plastic squeeze bottles coated in residual candy-flavored vape juice and even burned out refillable pods from the more ‘environmentally friendly’ vape rigs. Aside from the obvious health risks of inhaling aerosolized nicotine and tobacco products, disposable vapes are a huge contributor to plastic and electronic waste. Even the juice is literal hazardous waste, according to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and errant liquid nicotine can cause accidental poisoning when improperly thrown out.
A Truth Initiative survey found that more than 50 percent of people between the ages of 15 and 24 threw their used Puff Bars and JUUL pods in the trash, around 17 percent improperly recycled them and an alarming 10 percent simply littered them. Oddly, more than 30 percent just hoard their empties. Turns out, that’s not what tobacco companies want you to do with their products once they’ve died, though they haven’t really made any efforts at educating the public. The same survey found that the majority of young people don’t know how to properly dispose of dead vapes.
Normal municipal recycling systems can’t handle the hundreds of tiny batteries left behind after users inhale their last puff of a disposable vape and there really aren’t any easy options for correctly getting rid of the evidence of their habit. However, many local vape stores have recycling programs, and even some hazardous material recycling facilities offer free drop-offs for batteries and empty juice bottles. Check your local guidelines and think twice before throwing away your e-cigs.