Taking up vaping can be a great way to stop smoking, which is good news when it comes to reducing harm to your own body and reducing the chances of you suffering potentially fatal disease like lung cancer and heart disease.
However, we live in an age where people are becoming increasingly aware that our health and wellbeing depends not just on personal consumption, but the state of the wider environment we live in. That is why it is important to be as green as possible.
This applies not just to thinks like using green energy, but also recycling more things and doing so effectively, including disposable vapes.
For the reason, the Denbighshire Free Press has published advice on how to make sure your vape products are recycled properly.
It advises people not to put them in normal recycling bags because while they can be recycled, often vaping products contain batteries and what are known as persistent organic pollutants. These need to be taken to waste recycling facilities and placed in waste electronic or electrical equipment disposal points.
Denbighshire County Council’s lead member for environment and transport Cllr Barry Mellor said: “We are urging people to follow the guidance and not place vapes and E-Cigarettes in their mixed recycling or in the clear recycling sacks and to dispose of them in the correct manner.”
He noted that when not disposed of in the right way, such items can be “a real fire risk”.
Some of the batteries contain lithium, which is a common material but hard to extract. However, it is in short supply and it is important to recycle as this is set to be a central feature of efforts to go green in advanced economies by powering electric vehicles.
The sector has been dominated by China, which has most of the world’s lithium refineries, but this is about to change; the UK’s first two lithium refineries, owned by Green Lithium and Tees Valley Lithium, are set to open in the Tees Freeport in 2025.
