The National Health Institute surveyed adults to find out how many people use an electronic cigarette or e-cigarette for short. As of 2021, about 4.5% of the population aged 18 or older use them. The 18 to 24 age group is the most likely to use an e-cigarette.

Vapes or e-cigarettes are often touted as safer than cigarettes, so people turned to them. While they’re safer than traditional cigarettes, they’re still not completely safe as they contain heavy metals like lead, nickel, and tin. The liquid vapor contains diacetyl, which is tied to lung disease, VOCs, and chemicals. 

All of that goes into a case that contains metal, glass, and a lot of non-biodegradable plastic. Because of these harmful substances, it’s imperative that vape users recycle them correctly when the device is no longer wanted or no longer works.

 

A Breakdown of the Four Main Components in an E-Cigarette

Today’s e-cigarettes or vapes have four key components. The user sucks on a mouthpiece or presses a button, which activates the flow sensor and triggers the heating of the coil to aerosolize the vaping liquid. To better understand what’s involved with recycling this electronic device, you need to look at how it’s built.

Coil/Atomizer – The heating coil that heats the liquid to create the vapor contains metal wires, organic cotton, bamboo, or another wicking material, and a casing.E-Liquid Tank – Reservoir that contains heat-resistant glass and holds the nicotine liquid.Device Body – Contains all electronic components like the circuit board, activation button, digital display, and lithium batteries, which are wrapped in heat-resistant tape.Outer Case – The different components fit together into a metal or plastic case with a glass screen over the digital display and a mouthpiece that you suck on to draw the vapor into your mouth.

The other components that you can recycle are the bottles that e-liquid comes in. It might be glass or plastic that contains the e-vape liquid, which is a mix of nicotine, flavoring, and vaporizing liquid. After rinsing them out, they’re usually recyclable in a curbside bin. Check that your district accepts that type of plastic before you toss it into your recycling container.

Charging cables and owner manuals are added to each vape. Boxes are shrink-wrapped in water-resistant plastic to preserve quality and eliminate exposure to moisture during shipping. Remove the plastic before you recycle the cardboard box and any plastic trays. Save the plastic film wrap to recycle in plastic wrap recycling bins at your local grocery or mass merchandise store. For the plastic trays, check the type of plastic before you put it in your recycling bin.

Finally, the owner’s manual can be recycled with your paper recycling. That’s easy, but the charging cable and eventually your vape require special processes to recycle correctly.

 

E-Cigarettes Contain Many Items That Impact the Environment

So much of an e-cigarette is damaging to the environment. Start with the e-liquids. If it spills out, it can get into the soil and nearby water sources and harm aquatic life. 

Electronic waste is a big problem, too. Most vapes contain rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. If they’re not properly recycled, they can explode or cause a fire. Plus, lithium mining is equally damaging to the environment. The more lithium that’s recycled, the better it is for the planet. Recycling keeps heavy metals like lead and mercury out of the soil and groundwater.

The circuit boards, digital displays, and wiring all have a mix of metal and plastic. Those metals are damaging to the environment in terms of mining the raw materials and any heavy metals used to construct the electronic components. 

Currently, there don’t seem to be any raw materials that are running out, but mining has started moving into rainforests and other areas vital to plants and animals. An analysis of University of Maryland data found that close to 1.4 million hectares of rainforests and other protected forests have lost trees to mining activities. It needs to stop.

A lot of the casing is made from non-biodegradable plastic. If it’s disposed of in a landfill, it may not break down for hundreds of years. As it does degrade, microplastics as small as one nanometer are released. Think of a poppy seed, which measures about 1 millimeter. Now, cut that poppy seed into a million parts and you get a nanometer. It’s too tiny to see.

These microscopic pieces of plastic have been found in everything from blood vessels in the brain to the pollen collected by bees to make honey. They’re found in the beverages you drink, the fruits and vegetables you eat, and the air you breathe. Properly recycling plastic components is important if we’re going to reduce the number of microplastics in the soil, air, and water.

Why are microplastics so damaging to the environment? It’s more about the possible impact on plants, aquatic life, animals, and humans. A study in 2023 found that microplastics made their way from standard drinking water into the bloodstream of mice. Those tiny particles got through barriers into the brain causing dementia-like symptoms in mice. 

Another area of concern is that the chemicals in microplastics have been found to increase the risk of ADHD, cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, metabolic conditions, and a person’s fertility. If there’s even the slightest chance that the plastics making their way into landfills and slowly breaking down could impact your health, wouldn’t you want to do what you can to stop the problem?

 

How to Properly Recycle E-Cigarettes

How do you recycle your e-cigarettes when they’re broken or no longer being used? Start by looking for e-recycling companies that do not ship any electronics overseas for processing. Companies with R2 and E-Steward certifications provide a good start to your search for the best e-waste recycling company to process your vapes in a manner that protects the environment, workers within the facility, and people around the globe.

Your local recycling facility may take them. You cannot recycle them in your curbside containers as they do have a lithium-ion battery that can trigger a recycling truck or facility fire. Instead, bring them to the facility for safe recycling. 

If you do not have a facility that accepts e-cigarettes, visit ERI’s website. We offer prepaid recycling boxes that you fill with your vapes and other electronic devices and send to us for responsible recycling.

At our facility, we break down the items and send the plastics, glass, metal, and lithium-ion batteries to the correct area for responsible recycling. When you recycle your vapes, the materials end up being reused in new products. This supports a circular economy and ends the need to constantly mine new materials and deplete the world of resources that could run out if actions aren’t taken to recycle. Contact ERI to learn more about e-cigarette recycling.

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