2024-01-16 03:38:33
Published16. January 2024, 04:38
Electronic waste: “What a mess to dispose of vapes like that”
E-cigarettes, so-called vapes, regularly end up in the trash with the batteries – because they contain a rechargeable battery. But that is wrong.
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A reader recently discovered numerous e-cigarettes in Embrach ZH that were simply thrown into the battery compartment. The products contain a battery.
20min/News-Scout
E-cigarettes are disposable products. However, they are rarely disposed of correctly.
20min/News-Scout
You still have no place in the battery compartment. E-cigarettes are considered electrical devices.
20min/News-Scout
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E-cigarettes are rarely disposed of properly.
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In Embrach ZH, numerous used vapes ended up in battery disposal.
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However, they must be returned to the points of sale – because they are considered electronic waste.
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After all: Depending on the disposal station, incorrect items are still sorted.
“I thought there was something wrong,” said a news scout to 20 Minutes. The reader recently discovered incorrect deposits at an unguarded recycling station in front of a shop in Embrach ZH – several e-cigarettes were stuck in the battery compartment.
“What a mess when vapes are disposed of like that,” says the woman, and adds: “Actually, I find it questionable at all when these disposable products are bought and used.” She is a smoker herself and smokes an e-cigarette with liquid from time to time – albeit a device that is rechargeable and which she has had for three years.
Vapes are electrical devices
“E-cigarettes – regardless of whether they are disposable vapes or rechargeable devices – definitely do not belong in the battery collection point or in the household waste,” says Christoph Mahlstein, media spokesman for Disposal + Recycling Zurich (ERZ). “E-cigarettes are preferably sold at the respective point of sale. Due to the advanced recycling fee, which is already included in the sales price, they are obliged to take back the e-cigarettes free of charge.”
Because of the battery and electrically heated parts, e-cigarettes are considered electrical devices. Electrical devices can also be handed in free of charge at all recycling centers. If the e-cigarettes are disposed of in household waste, they immediately end up in the incinerator. There they can even accidentally ignite in the press.
Incorrect entries will be sorted in Zurich
At least there is a possibility that the vapes from Embrach still found their way into the correct recycling chain. “Incorrect waste at the recycling collection points will definitely be sorted at ERZ,” says Mahlstein. “But unfortunately I can’t answer you how the retailers handle it.”
Sens, a foundation for the recycling of electrical appliances, is responsible for recycling electrical appliances in Switzerland. Deputy managing director Sabrina Bjöörn says to 20 Minuten: “The correct disposal of e-cigarettes is in stores, wherever the products are sold, or at any collection point that collects electrical devices. There they are taken back and recycled professionally.”
The e-cigarettes contain lithium batteries, which contain both valuable raw materials and harmful substances. So that the raw materials can be recovered and no pollutants are released into the environment, they must be dismantled and recycled. Other valuable raw materials include cobalt, nickel, copper and aluminum, all of which belong back into the cycle.
50 percent of vape devices will one day be recycled
However, so far only a tiny proportion of disposable e-cigarettes have been correctly disposed of and recycled. “In previous samples from the flow of electrical appliances, very few e-cigarettes have been detected,” says Sabrina Bjöörn. With the “E-cigarettes” project, the recycling industry wants to one day collect at least 50 percent of the vapes sold. The industry solution has been around for six months. It is not yet known what the response rate is.
In any case, Christoph Mahlstein from Disposal + Recycling Zurich says: “It is advisable for consumers to check the use of rechargeable devices. This means that a significant proportion of the waste generated by the consumption of disposable cigarettes might be avoided.”
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