The issue with vapes

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Vapes are problematic as litter and in landfill as they contain a battery, electronic circuitry, hazardous chemicals and plastic.

“Vapes don’t belong in the kerbside bin and they absolutely don’t belong in the environment. There is urgent need for a nationwide safe system for the disposal of vapes.”

Pip Kiernan, Clean Up Australia Chair
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THE PROBLEM

Single-use vapes (e-cigarettes) are ubiquitous across the country despite Federal legislation banning their sale. While non-therapeutic vapes are banned in Australia, therapeutic vapes are still available in pharmacy settings to patients 18 years or older without a prescription (aside from in WA).

All vapes are classified as e-waste as they contain a lithium-ion battery and electronic circuits. They also contain chemical and hazardous waste, including heavy metals like lead or mercury, and hard plastic. The complexity of these devices makes them difficult to recycle. As a result, many vapes are disposed of in landfill or simply discarded in the environment.

In Clean Up Australia’s Litter Report FY24, vapes were collected from 30.1% of sites surveyed [22.4% of sites in FY23].  Littered vapes leach metals, toxins and nicotine into surroundings as well as present a fire risk.

In garbage trucks and under compression, vapes run the risk of entering a dangerous state called thermal runway – in which the lithium-ion battery heats exponentially, leading to fires. Luckily, it is safe to pick up, store and dispose-of vapes through designated recycling locations. Never dispose of vapes in your kerbside bin.

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What can you do?

  • If you are able, pick up vapes on your Clean Up and protect wildlife and precious ecosystems. The earth appreciates it!
  • Keep vapes bagged separately from your other litter.
  • Like batteries, you can safely store your vapes in a glass container at home until you get to a safe disposal location.
  • Take vapes to your nearest drop-off point. Consult our safe disposal resource on this page!

Need for an Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme

Despite Federal banning of single-use vapes across the country, vapes are being found as litter at 7.7% more sites in FY24 than in FY23. Vapes are still legally available from pharmacies in their reusable form, and many single-use vapes are still illegally circulating.

There is need for an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Scheme for vapes, which would ensure manufacturers or importers of vapes are responsible for the safe collection, recycling and disposal of vapes after sale and consumption.

There are different options for an EPR for vapes:

Disposing of vapes correctly

Never dispose of vapes in kerbside bins as they present a fire risk.

There is currently no federal or state legislation governing end-of-life disposal for vapes. However, as the problem of vape disposal becomes known, some Councils are taking positive action to implement safe drop-off points for vape recycling.

Clean Up Australia in collaboration with No More Butts has compiled a first-of-its kind resource, listing all current safe disposal places for vapes in Australia:

Dispose Safely
More Resources

1. Producer Responsibility Needed for Vape Disposal: Clean Up Australia and WMRR (2023).

2. No More Butts Submission for Stewardship for Consumer and Other Electrical and Electronic Products:  Vaping Devices (2022).

3. Planet Ark: How to Recycle Vapes.

4. No More Butts – Shannon Mead, Waste Management Review (2024): Is the Vape Cloud Clearing?

5. NSW EPA: Embedded Battery Trial (2024).

6. Vape recycling trial collects over 2000 vapes – City of Port Phillip, VIC (2024).