Vape deposit scheme could recover £6.3m worth of lithium and copper annually
Despite 2025’s disposable vape ban, 6.3m vapes and pods still get chucked away every week in the UK. This has prompted fresh calls for a deposit return scheme for vaping products. Disposable vapes are an example of a product that creates a lucrative market with no apparent thought for the environmental cost. Each unit includes plastic for the casing, copper wiring in the circuitry and lithium in the battery. While the ban on disposable vapes has helped to reduce the number purchased per week, with a 31% reduction, 6.3m vapes and pods are still being binned each week. Alongside this, reports…

