According to UK media outlet Grampianonline, Aberdeenshire in Scotland is facing a new pollution issue with an increasing number of disposable e-cigarettes being found in household battery recycling bags. Previously discarded e-cigarettes have become one of the fastest-growing sources of electronic waste in the UK, with over half a million being thrown into trash bins every week, totaling over one million.
According to local council regulations, e-cigarette devices should be taken to the small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) container at household recycling centers.
If the battery inside an e-cigarette can be easily removed, then that battery can be independently extracted and disposed of at a battery recycling facility. Some reputable retail stores may offer a collection point or recycling program for this purpose.
This new type of pollution could potentially mean that battery recycling efforts in other households are being wasted due to some families mixing e-cigarette devices with their batteries.
Alan Turner, Chairman of the Municipal Facilities Service Committee and city councilor, expressed:
Considering the perspectives of safety and environmental protection, it is crucial to properly recycle small electronic devices like e-cigarette devices. If you are unsure of which container to place these items in, feel free to ask our staff at the household recycling center at any time.
The local government is investigating what measures need to be taken to reduce this new type of pollution that occurs during weekly battery collection. E-cigarettes, which are made from valuable resources on Earth such as steel, aluminum, copper, and lithium, make recycling them even more important. However, e-cigarette devices are also classified as toxic waste.
This is not the first occasion that the local government's waste and recycling services have suffered a loss of resources due to e-cigarette devices. In September 2022, a batch of disposable e-cigarettes exploded during the regular compression process at the Westhill recycling center. The reason behind this mishap was that they were mistakenly placed in a general waste skip instead of the designated WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) container.
The Scottish government is currently considering banning disposable e-cigarettes as part of their plan to protect public health and the environment.
According to estimates from Zero Waste Scotland, Scotland consumed and discarded up to 26 million disposable e-cigarettes last year, with 10% being casually littered and over half being incorrectly disposed of. Increasingly, local authorities in Scotland are expressing support for legislative changes, including the Aberdeenshire Council, which made a decision on this matter during its general assembly in June this year.
In Aberdeenshire, residents have the opportunity to recycle batteries every week on the streets. To take part, simply place the batteries in a pink household battery recycling bag and leave it on top of the trash bin designated for recycling that week. You can obtain these battery bags for free at your local household recycling center, service point, or library. If your battery bag is empty, it can still be attached to any of your trash bins, and staff members will provide you with a new roll if available.
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