Residents of Aberdeenshire are urged to dispose of batteries and vapes safely following new research by Material Focus.
Aberdeenshire Council is working with Recycle Your Electricals, which is led by Material Focus, to raise awareness that residents can recycle vapes and other electricals with batteries at local household recycling centres.
A ban on the sale and supply of single-use vapes in Scotland is due to come into effect on April 1 2025, for which Aberdeenshire Council voiced its support back in June 2023.
However, new research into vapes commissioned by Material Focus and conducted by Opinium found that new big puff style vapes are set to grow in popularity despite the coming ban.
A total of 8.2million vapes are now thrown away every week in the UK, including big puff, single use, and single-use pod vapes -compared to 5million single-use vapes last year.
Material Focus research also identified that the number of battery fires in the waste stream had increased to over 1,200 in the last year, an increase of 71% from 700 in 2022.
Fires occur when electricals containing batteries, such as vapes, are thrown in with household waste or recycling and get crushed or damaged in bin lorries and recycling centres. They cause serious damage to the local community, put collection crews in danger, impact local services, and cause air pollution levels to spike in local areas.
One local example of this was in September 2023 when a collection of disposable vapes exploded during the routine compaction of a general waste skip at Westhill’s recycling centre, igniting its contents and leading to local fire services being called upon to extinguish the blaze.
Councillor Alan Turner, chair of the council’s Infrastructure Services Committee (ISC), said: “Anything with a plug, battery, or cable can and should be recycled. This includes single-use vapes, which continue to be among the most environmentally wasteful and damaging consumer products ever made. They are often marketed as 'disposable' but are also often made from steel, aluminium, copper, and lithium - some of the most valuable resources on the planet.”
ISC vice chair Councillor Isobel Davidson said: “Vapes and electricals with batteries contaminate waste and recycling collections and the environment. They should never be littered or put inside any kerbside collection bins where they can easily cause fires and put our collection crews at risk.
"Alongside Aberdeenshire Council’s solutions for recycling these items, please check in with local shops and other organisations who will often have battery and vape recycling collections in other easy to access locations.”
Specialised drums are available at all household recycling centres across Aberdeenshire to safely store vapes or e-cigarettes before they are transported to Veolia in Portsmouth for recycling, where 94% of all the materials inside them can be recovered.
Electricals, if in suitable condition and with all parts and plugs, can be donated to a charity directly or via a reuse container in Banchory, Ellon, Laurencekirk, Macduff, Stonehaven, Portlethen, or Peterhead household recycling centres.
If not, they can be placed in the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) container at any of the council’s recycling centres. WEEE containers are also available at Port Elphinstone’s Davidson Park and at Insch’s leisure centre car park. Please ensure that batteries are removed from appliances and that these are recycled separately to the appliance.
Household battery bags are available for free from local household recycling centres, libraries, or service points. An empty battery bag can also be tied to a household’s kerbside bin and the collection crew will leave a new roll where stock is available. Batteries can be placed inside the free, pink battery bags and - once full - left for collection on top of the kerbside bin being emptied that week. Batteries can also be recycled at any of the council’s recycling centres.
More than just a fire risk, vapes are also toxic and damaging to the environment and wildlife when littered.
Through a trial at a recycling and waste management solutions facility (Levenseat) in Lanark last year, it was revealed that more than 25,000 vapes are likely swept up every month from Aberdeenshire’s streets and from within the drainage fittings on roads and highways.
The number of vapes thrown away per annum in the UK could instead be powering 10,127 electric vehicles.
More and more people are recycling their single-use vapes in store—20% this year compared to 8% last year. Aberdeenshire residents can also check Recycle Your Electricals postcode locator to find their nearest recycling point.