Submitted 1 year ago by L4s@lemmy.world [bot] to technology@lemmy.world
https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/11/23912751/vapes-chargers-invisible-ewaste-recycling
Vapes, chargers, and other “invisible” e-waste are a 9-million-ton problem.::Chargers, vapes, and other small electronics make up millions of tons of “invisible” e-waste each year. Recycling them could recover billions of dollars worth of precious materials.
Disposable vape mods need to go, spent units still have batteries inside which can cause fire or small explosion in the waste bin.
For other e-waste manufacturers/oem should think if obsolescence still a good thing in the long run.
Sometimes when I see disposable vapes as litter I pick them up and take them to Best Buy, where they have Li-ion recycling.
Most of the disposable users I see are teens.
A few years ago I could buy litres of the vaping base and nicotine.
EU came in and said we must protect the children and forced that nicotine bases must have maximum concentration of 20mg/ml and can’t be sold in a bigger volume then 10ml.
The safety caps are cool, the forced maximum concentration and artificial max is not because it creates shitton of instant plastic vape.
Now, if you want to save both time and money by making a bigger “tank” of it, you will find out sellers basically giving you ~30 of these 10ml nicotine bottles in a pack (called boosters).
You empty them yourself into a big one (with some amount of raw base to dilute for given concentration) and now there is 30 plastic bottles ready for trash, yay.
Note: I stand behind vaping as just a bit safer, less smelly way for nicotine use.
If you smoke, try vaping, otherwise don’t, you don’t need it.
One-time use vapes should have been banned a year ago, that shit is pumped with nicotine and the amount of waste is crazy.
Genuinely curious how this compares to cigarette waste and litter. Including lighters that go along with them
I suspect cigarettes generated a lot more litter but with a lot less precious metals in it
bic lighters are such a scam honestly, you can refill pretty much any other brand besides bic. should be illegal.
I thought you could refill Bics… huh. Either way, I have a zippo with a butane replacement. Doesn’t evaporate and ni wick, so it’s easier to maintain.
Pretty much everything, except for the cellophane is going to degrade in a year or less. Disposable vapes are all plastic and batteries.
While they could and should do better, this seems like another paper straw argument to shift blame to consumers. It’s all our fault for not recycling coke cans.
A problem that could be solved overnight by legislation. And yet, the consumers are to blame.
Something like the lead acid battery laws that make those batteries the most recycled item.
Force sellers to accept all the dead ones and create a mandatory recycling regime.
In some countries theirs already pickups so the logistics for all of this is already done.
I get your point but coke cans are efficient to recycle - aluminum takes more energy to create new than to recycle. Plastics have something like 2% recycling rates so “coke bottle” makes the point better.
The recycling and green movement was actually created to put the blame on consumers rather than companies like big oil, Nestle, and the like. The next time you see you use a paper straw or recycle, remember that whatever little change you’re trying to make, there’s some company out there dumping oil and hazardous materials into waterways or constantly polluting the air because of factories.
Step 1. Get A LOT of sulphuric acid
Step 2. Get some large vats, and a metal recovery unit
Step 3. Add waste + sulphuric acid
Step 4. Collect leachate and precipitate metal
Step 5. Profit
This is basically the process used for a lot of historical mines or mines with low grade ore, except they didn’t use vats back then, but a constructed pad, with leachate collection.
Done at scale is this process producing a lot of toxic gases and waste chemicals?
(I think you can tell I have no idea what I’m talking about here, I’m genuinely curious)
Yeah, it’s not environmentally friendly, that’s for sure.
Most of the issue with mining though, come from exposing buried rock to the atmosphere, or from the tailings (crushed, processed rock)
I still to this day what would ever attract a human to use or buy a cigarette or vape
For me, it was a combination of things. I was already an evening user of cannabis and had just started bowling regularly with some friends ( a few of which were smokers). Drinking and bowling go hand in hand and I got curious when my friends went out for smoke breaks so I decided to go with them. First couple times you smoke you get a really nice head-high and don’t really even think about how easy it is to get addicted. By the time that little head-high no longer happens it’s too late and you are addicted.
Peer pressure when they’re young, addiction when they’re old.
makes me look cool 😎
So I was wondering how much this was in the whole picture and it seems like around 2 billion tons of waste are made each year (oof) so in relation this is 0.45% of global waste. This is bad but seems more of the blame the consumer type of thing then a major problem that needs addressing above others. For some more context 25 million tons of water bottles do not get recycled but end up in landfills each year. We should be recycling these carts and chargers but by no means is this a leading cause of waste.
You should read a lot about plastic recycling industry. More than 80% of all plastic made is non-recyclable…
But I agree that blaming the customers for this is avoiding the true responsibility of companies.
I think most people would be surprised at how little plastic gets recycled from consumer goods. And it is not the fault of the end user, but the companies that produce without reuse and design the plastic products.
I haven’t vaped in years but are refillable tanks not a thing any more?
They are but disposables are quite popular as well and are getting more popular (higher margins I guess).
I only see the disposables or the ones where you buy a battery and the batteries come separate.
Refillable does not make them so much money and people are getting stupider and lazier. Smokingn one time use vapes now will cost people more than smoking cigarets. Much more, at least in EU.
But they plan to make buying liquid more or as expensive than buying cigarets and tax it with progressive tax. They don’t like how cheap it is.
I stopped 6 months ago but it costed me around 20£ monthly which in comparison to cigarets or heating tobacco is almost nothing.
That’s sad to hear. I used to DIY my liquid and it was surprisingly easy and stupid cheap. And the coolest part is I was able to keep gradually cutting back on the nicotine until I quit completely. From what it seems like these disposables are loaded with nic and designed to keep you hooked. It seems counterintuitive considered vaping was mostly pushed as a way to quit cigarettes back in the day
MTLion3@lemm.ee 1 year ago
Who would have guessed that disposable capes would be a MASSIVE waste issue? Think of all the plastic and REMs and other tech shit that is produced just to be thrown away from this shit.
_dev_null@lemmy.zxcvn.xyz 1 year ago
And they get away with it simply because they’re super heroes, bastards!
Bearbi3@lemm.ee 1 year ago
No Capes!
MTLion3@lemm.ee 1 year ago
LOL Autocrorect really fucked me there, huh?
Sygheil@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Not all heroes wear capes.
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 year ago
And we see the issue partly with the regular tabacco products.
Cigarette butts everywhere BUT they are small, can be easily ignored and disposed off or cleaned by the waste crew.
Those things are basically 10x the size alone, made from plastic (the butts are too but can be more easily cleaned) and have precious metals inside.