Each year Americans generate millions of tons of waste. In 2018, a Truth Initiative study conclude that Americans generated 2.7 million tons of consumer electronic waste, which includes e-cigarette waste.
E-cigarettes or vaporizers contain some if not all of these harmful materials: plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals, lead, mercury, and flammable lithium-ion batteries. These unfortunately ends up in landfills or incinerator that affect our waterways, soil, and wildlife.
There is still controversy as to whether vaping is good or bad for your health. But many users find these a big help if they want to reduce or quit smoking. However, one thing is for sure, their residues pose a serious environmental issue.
To help lessen the threat, many companies that sold e-cigarettes or vaporizers take initiatives to lessen their impact on the environment. One of these is to educate vape users on how to recycle e-cigarettes. So, here’s how to do it:
Dismantle the vaporizer
The first thing to consider when recycling is segregation. When recycling a vaporizer, segregation is very important. This is because some recycling companies cannot recycle a whole vaporizer. Most e-cigarettes are made with several parts that are easy to unscrew or unclip and separate from one another.
Place the battery in battery bins
Always remember that batteries of any kind are toxic. Their chemicals destroy the protective layer around landfills so they are not supposed to be mixed with other waste products. Find the closest battery bins around your area to dispose of them properly.
Rinse the cartridge
E-cigarette cartridges contain liquid nicotine so they are harmful to the environment when improperly disposed of. So make sure to rinse them carefully with water before disposal or before recycling them.
Remove metals from tanks
When recycling vaporizer tanks, start with removing the coil, or other metals that are in them. Then place the remaining plastic or glass parts in appropriate recycling bins.
Bonus tip: You can find the plastic type on the bottom of almost every plastic product. This is the triangle with a number between one and seven. Then, find out if your local recycling service recycles the plastic the vaporizer is made from before putting it in.
Additionally, there are companies that offer different recycling programs. So instead of recycling and disposing of them on your own, store them up, and find out how you could send those empty vaporizers.
Here at Olah, we believe that each of us can make a difference by reducing, reusing, and recycling materials. So we created our own Vaporizer Recycle Program. This initiative will help vape users lessen their waste by recycling used vaporizers.
How does it work? It’s very simple! All you need to do is save your empty vaporizers, follow the simple steps provided on the website, send your vaporizers to us and we’ll recycle them!
First, collect 5 empty Olah Vaporizers (any flavor) and place them into a sturdy shipping box or mailer. You can also ship your vaporizers back in their original packaging because we recycle them too! Then, enter your information into our Vaporizer Takeback Portal. You will receive an email from us with instructions on how to print out your label. This shipping label is pre-paid so you don’t need to worry about the cost! Lastly, print out your return shipping label and drop them off at the nearest post office.
We will recycle the empty vaporizers and as a bonus, you will receive a voucher to use on your next purchase from Olah.
Conclusion
There is only one earth so it is our obligation to protect our environment and save it from total destruction. Taking small efforts to reduce the waste we produce by reusing and reusing products that we use can make a huge difference.
