Drop vapes and other e-waste in for free recycling
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Strange as it might seem, the bigger an electrical item is the more likely we are to recycle it.
A burnt-out dishwasher is more awkward to get into the boot of a car, but we would probably take it to the recycling centre before doing the same with a small used battery or broken remote control, studies show.
Millions of toys, vapes, cables, remote controls, and USB sticks are lying in landfill sites, homes, and sheds across Ireland, according to global data.
Despite endless awareness campaigns on waste reduction, new waste streams are coming all the time. And is there anything more obvious nowadays than vapes, or e-cigarettes, which also contain disposable batteries?
It’s nearly impossible to walk the streets without somebody blowing vape vapour into your face. But, as vapes have been around for little more than a decade, more research is needed to determine the health consequences of these exhalations.
A certainty, however, is that millions of vapes are used here and are not properly disposed of. Usage is growing. A 2023 Health Ireland survey found that 8% of adults here use them, compared to 3%, in 2016.
The huge collection of broken and unused items is contributing to a mountain of ‘invisible’ electrical waste, according to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
Its study shows that consumers in Ireland generated 11 million kilos of small electronic waste in 2022 — equal to 25 million items containing precious and valuable metals which will be lost forever unless they are recycled.
Elizabeth O’Reilly, of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Ireland, said we tend to know household electrical products as those we plug in and use regularly.
“But we don’t realise some battery-powered, or wired-in products like a smoke detector, or smart thermostat, are electrical products because they don't have a plug,’’ she pointed out.
“For every 10 new, small electrical products sold in Ireland last year, only four are eventually coming back through our approved e-waste recycling system when they reach end of life.”
Ms O’Reilly said consumers in Ireland have performed exceptionally well in recycling larger household items such as fridges and washing machines, but a similar effort is needed for these forgotten, smaller electronic items.
Anything with a plug, battery, or cable, is free to recycle in local authority sites, or participating electrical retailers. Used vapes can also be returned to the shops in which they were purchased.
Since Batteries for Barretstown was launched in 2017, the equivalent of more than 136 million AA batteries have been recycled — that’s enough batteries to cover the distance from the Earth to the Moon and back five times.
The Brussels-based waste collective, WEEE Forum, of which WEEE Ireland is a member, says small battery-operated, or rechargeable toys such as racing sets, electric trains, music toys, games, and drones account for more than a third of all invisible e-waste.