The 2 million figure quoted by Zurich Municipal, a subsidiary of insurance giant Zurich, is 700,000 units more than the 1.3 million often referred to. The 1.3 million statistic was estimated by Material Focus, which is funded by through the WEEE compliance fee.
The number of vapers in the UK has grown exponentially from 3.7 million in 2021 to 4.3 million last year, Zurich said.
Zurich’s research estimated that around 78% of the 138 million vapes sold in the UK end up in general waste instead of being recycled as many consumers are confused as to the correct way to dispose of the devices.
Zurich Municipal supplies personal, commercial and local authority insurance through a number of distribution channels, and offer a range of protection policies available online and through financial intermediaries for the retail market and via employee benefit consultants for the corporate market.
Disposal
A survey conducted by Zurich Municipal revealed that the majority of the 1,000 vape users surveyed did not dispose of their vape correctly. Approximately 41% stated that they disposed of disposable vapes in their household waste, while 28% used street bins. Around 27% mentioned utilising household recycling methods, and 20% disposed of vapes at their workplace.
Only 15% reported using local authority recycling sites, and a mere 13% returned used vapes to retailers. Furthermore, the survey highlighted that only 15% of consumers were aware that larger stores, including supermarkets, offer take-back programs for vapes and other items containing lithium batteries, indicating limited knowledge among users.
Alix Bedford, a risk expert at Zurich Municipal, said: “Laid end to end, the number of disposable vapes discarded incorrectly in the UK every week would circle all 117miles of the M25. This highlights the huge and growing scale of vape waste local authorities are grappling with.
“While councils have long battled the nuisance of cigarette litter, single use vapes are emerging as an altogether more complex and hazardous problem. Flammable lithium batteries inside vapes pose a hidden danger to waste and recycling workers and are causing costly damage and disruption to waste management services.
“With house fires sparked by disposable and rechargeable vapes also on the rise, the government must take a lead in driving consumer awareness to curb this growing threat.”
Fires
The incorrect disposal of vapes is credited to the recent rise in fires in council refuse lorries, having risen by 62% in the last two years according to the Freedom of Information data obtained by the company. It also shows that house fires caused by vapes have more than doubled in two years, going from 59 in 2020 to 123 in 2022.
Phil Clark, emerging technologies lead at the National Fire Chief’s Council, said: “Fires caused by lithium batteries can be prevented by the correct disposal of everyday products like vapes. These fires can be serious incidents which can put firefighters and staff working in waste and recycling centres at risk of harm.
“NFCC would welcome more consumer messaging. Further work to make the disposal of these products easy and accessible would be a great support to the prevention advice fire and rescue services share with their communities.”
Tax
In addition to covering the expenses resulting from fires caused by discarded vapes, taxpayers are also responsible for the costs associated with their clean-up.
Approximately 7% of vape users admitted to habitually disposing of empty devices on the streets, resulting in an estimated 9.6 million vapes ending up in gutters annually. This translates to approximately 26,500 discarded vapes per day.
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