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21st September 2023
UK: Junior environment secretary, Rebecca Pow, said the government is very concerned about the environmental impact of disposable vapes and will shortly publish a response to its call for evidence on vaping that closed in June. She reminded that retailers selling over £100,000 of electrical equipment per year are obliged to provide in-store takeback of electrical items, including e-cigarettes. Smaller businesses can choose to contribute funds to the distributor takeback scheme instead to ensure vapes are recycled correctly. "All vapes that are deposited at household waste and recycling centres will be collected and treated and the costs of doing this will be met by vape producers," Pow added.18th September 2023
- Ireland: Almost 85% of participants in the public consultation on disposable vaping products support a ban on those products, press reports. The public consultation, which was launched in June 2023 and ended in August, received 3,246 submissions. Of the participants, 91% said disposable vaping products represent an environmental concern. A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications said the results from the consultation are being studied and will be published soon. It is likely that a bill will be introduced following the recommendations that were submitted to the consultation.
13th September 2023
- Italy: Logista Italia and the Italian Federation of Tobacconists (FIT) have signed an agreement with the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) to organise the collection of used e-cigarettes and heated tobacco devices nationwide. The organised collection circuit, established by Logista and FIT, aims to increase the collection of these small used electronic devices, free of charge and without the obligation for consumers to purchase a new device.
8th September 2023
- Germany: The federal environment minister, Steffi Lemke, is calling for a European ban on disposable e-cigarettes. In a newspaper interview, the minister said that they are "campaigning at European level for the liquids to be interchangeable. That would make e-cigarettes basically recyclable." Until then, she wants to stipulate nationally that every point-of-sale must also take back old disposable e-cigarettes.
7th September 2023
- UK: Junior environmental secretary Rebeca Pow reiterated that the government will review the existing Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations in 2023. The aim would be to strengthen producers’ and retailers’ obligations to make it more convenient for households to dispose of their unwanted equipment, including vapes. “In so doing we will make sure that the treatment costs that rise from waste vapes fall squarely on those who manufacture or import them,” said Pow. In addition, it was also confirmed that the research on the environmental impacts of disposables is going to be published in due course.
23rd August 2023
- UK: The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is reviewing two complaints about the advertising of disposable vapes with a potentially misleading environmental message, media reports. The words "Recycling for a greener future" were seen as misleading by those who submitted the complaints because they say that disposables “are not recyclable”. However, the producer said that “the advert created awareness that e-cigarettes must be properly disposed of”.
16th August 2023
- Czech Republic: According to a survey by a battery-recycling company, media reports, more than half of disposable e-cigarette users in the Czech Republic throw away their used devices in regular municipal waste. Reportedly, improper disposal of these devices could release substances that are toxic not only to humans but also to the environment. Such devices should instead be either returned to the shop where they were purchased or discarded into a bin reserved for electronic equipment.
2nd August 2023
US: The US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) is urging convenience stores and gas stations to stop selling disposable vapes. The plea quotes from a recent PIRG report: “E-waste, already the fastest-growing waste stream in the United States, is further exacerbated by the inclusion of disposable vapes...The nicotine e-liquid in these products prevents their legal recycling and contributes to their accumulation in landfills and across marine ecosystems.” It also says “e-cigarette companies created a dangerous health threat to young individuals,” citing a lawsuit recently filed by New York City mayor Eric Adams against four companies for illegally selling disposable flavoured e-cigarettes.
28th July 2023
- EU: The new regulation that aims to make batteries more sustainable has been published today in the EU’s Official Journal. As stated in our previous analysis and our database, the regulation will, among many other restrictions, require batteries to be removable and potentially phase out single-use batteries. It will enter into force 20 days after publication, and will begin to apply from 18th February 2024, with a number of different provisions applying at later dates.
28th July 2023
- UK: Last week, the Waste Experts, a waste management service, presented a comprehensive report titled “The Challenges of Recycling Single Use Vapes” in the Houses of Parliament. The report stressed that there are challenges to the effective recycling of vapes, ranging from the use of multiple components and mixed material to the hazardous materials found in vapes. However, the report also says that while they are not environmentally the best option, if collected and treated through authorised routes, disposable vapes can be recycled and recovered correctly.
20th July 2023
EU: The feedback period for a proposal revealed by the European Commission in March for a directive on substantiation and communication of explicit environmental claims (Green Claims Directive) ends tomorrow, 21st July. The proposal would require companies to substantiate claims they make about the environmental footprint of their products, using standard methods for quantifying them. The aim is to make claims reliable, comparable and verifiable across the EU to reduce “greenwashing”, or giving a false impression of environmental impact. The current Tobacco Products Directive (TPD 2) bars labelling for vaping products from suggesting improved biodegradability or other environmental advantages, but lacks explicit regulation on the use of environmental claims in commercial communications, which is expected to be introduced by this proposal.
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