The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has launched its Sustainable Vaping Week, which encourages consumers to recycle their vapes and the sector to be more environmentally responsible.
The initiative follows new research from Material Focus that found five million single-use vapes are thrown away every week in the UK and comes as the vape sector faces increasing scrutiny for its impact on the planet.
It also follows fast on the heels of International E-Waste Day, which took place on 14 October, and coincides with the unveiling of the UKVIA’s new permanent vape recycling information hub – Recycle-Vapes.co.uk.
Both the Sustainable Vaping Week campaign and the new online resource hub provide vapers with an informative guide on how to safely dispose of their waste vape devices in an environmentally considerate way.
There is guidance from the Environment Agency and Office for Product Safety and Standards for producers, importers, distributors and retailers of vaping products regarding their environmental obligations.
Retailers and manufacturers can also download a range of materials to encourage vapers to recycle their vapes in the form of in-store posters, social media posts, and online banners.
John Dunne, Director General of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said: “The environmental initiatives we have launched have been created to close this critical knowledge gap by better educating vapers on how to correctly dispose of their used devices, providing guidance to the industry on their environmental responsibilities and spreading the message that vapes can and should be recycled.”
Sustainable Vaping Week will run from 16-22 October and the Recycle Vapes information hub will permanently be available online.
