90% of retailers not providing vape recycling points - which they are legally required to do

Vape retailers who don’t take back e-cigs are breaking the law, ITV News' Consumer Editor Chris Choi reports

A big problem with disposable vapes is where they are disposed.

Now, there are warnings that there’s a lot more litter to come - despite an impending ban on single-use e-cigarettes.

New research given to ITV News by recycling experts Material Focus suggest that 250 million single use vapes will be thrown away before they are banned.

That’s expected to happen in April 2025 for most of the UK.

360 million are sold each year, and five million thrown away every week.

Vape retailers who don’t take back e-cigs are breaking the law, yet Material Focus researchers in 13 cities claim many outlets refused.

One outlet that I tried told me to put my used vape in the bin, but that’s not a good idea because they have caused fires in the waste disposal chain.

All the big retail chains we spoke to say they do recycle vapes and tell customers about it with signs near checkout - but clearly staff don’t always know about these policies.

We put these findings to John Dunne of UK Vaping Industry Association.

He told us: "It’s really important for government agencies to work together to come up with solutions that really work.

"Every retailer who sells these products should be providing the facilities to recycle."

The retail sector insists it is rolling out vape take back schemes.

But designated recycling bins are not a legal requirement and campaigners fear there’s a lot more of this litter to come.

Scott Butler of Material Focus, a non-profit environmental organisation, said: "It’s a pollutant, you’ve got nicotine liquid in there with damage to land, to waterways and to wildlife.

"We also hear stories of cars running over vapes and them catching fire so tyres burst."

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