Biffa Launches Disposable Vapes Disposal, Collection and Recycling Plan

Biffa, the second largest waste recycling company in British, launches a UK nationwide vape pen products recycling plan. This plan allows consumers to safely discard disposable vape pens through in-store bins.

It is a good way to help solving the waste problem and helping shops and supermarkets comply with the law. The program can achieve 80% recycling of equipment in the disposable vapes.

There are more than 1.3 million non-rechargeable vapes are disposed of in the UK every week.

However, the recycling confusion causes many disposable vapes are wrongly dropped in general waste or as litter.

WEEE(waste electrical and electronic equipment) has strict rules about how to disposal and recycle these vape pen products. Therefore, they must be recycled at household recycling centre, designated collection facility or at the shop where they were bought.

In addition, there are lithium batteries in the disposable vapes, that’s a pollution risk and a fire hazard. Retailers could get up to £5,000 fan per store if they not have a vape return system in place.

Biffa’s new vape recycling plan allows consumers to safely discard disposable vapes via in-store bins.

This is also helpful for tackling litter and helping shops and supermarkets comply with the law.

Biffa will provide the following service:

1. Provide vapes brand display containers with different capacities;
2. Collect used disposable vapes at least quarterly, and more frequently if required, to meet the requirements of NWFD4;
3. Notify retailers to prepare documents prior to collection;
4. Provide collection schedules, completions and any wasted travel reports through myBiffa;
5. Available at fixed national prices based on package size, or as an add-on option to existing Biffa small WEEE recycling services.

Biffa Launches Disposable Vapes Recycling Plan

What’s more, Biffa also have disposable vape return bins at dozens of places across the UK. These places including the airports, motorway service areas, NHS sites, universities and colleges, railway stations, distribution centers, shopping centers and offices.

How will Biffa handle with these recycled disposable vape pens?

Biffa will take these vapes to an Approved Authorised Treatment Facility (AATF) to dismantle into their constituent parts including battery, casing, electronics, nicotine pads. They will treat each of the components separately. At AATF, 80% of the disposable vapes components can be recycled.

Biffa’s Reactive Services team member, Daniel Barrett, says that:

“It is vital that single use vapes are disposed of properly via trusted Approved Authorised Treatment Facilities. Far too many end up in landfill or being incinerated, preventing perfectly good material like lithium and plastic from being recycled back into new products.