A few months ago I wrote a piece for The Spectator about the surge in popularity of Elf Bars and the potential health risks of these colourful e-cigarettes. But disposable vapes are now posing a different kind of problem – for the planet.
These single-use devices, which last for around 600 puffs, head straight to landfill after users suck out their smoke. The vapes which don’t make it to the dump can be found lining the gutters of our cities, having been cast aside.
In Britain an estimated 4.3 million people use vapes today, up from around 800,000 a decade ago, according to YouGov data. And more than a third of all vapes bought last year were disposable, with this figure rising to more than half among 18-to-34 year olds, according to research by Material Focus and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. That study found 1.3 million are thrown away in the UK each week – the equivalent of two vapes every second.
We toss out 67 million single-use vapes per year – throwing away enough lithium to make batteries for 1,200 Teslas
But these e-cigs are packed with precious metals such as lithium.
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