Toronto, Ontario — According to a recent assessment made by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the precious materials in discarded e-cigarette batteries could be used to help power electric vehicles.
The Bureau has reported that “five disposable vapes are being thrown away every second by young people in the United States despite the devices containing reusable lithium-ion batteries. Over a year, this amounts to 150 million devices—which together, contain enough lithium for about 6,000 Teslas.”
In e-cigarettes, lithium-ion batteries are used to heat the liquid solution they contain. However, “even though most disposable vapes contain a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, they are designed to be discarded once the liquid runs out,” the Bureau notes.
While the batteries in e-cigarettes are meant to be recycled, the process can be difficult and unclear, with some vapes needing to be taken apart properly to do so, but lacking government regulations around the world to ensure that this is done and that consumers follow procedure.
The Bureau has suggested that the key elements in e-cigarettes could be collected and processed so that the necessary lithium can go towards larger infrastructure projects such as electric vehicles.
Similarly, Alex Fairclough, an engineer who teaches at Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne, England reported to VICE that “every one of the batteries that are in a vape like this holds about one-third of the battery that’s in your phone,” and as a result, greater initiatives should be taken to ensure that the materials are being recycled because, “the fact that we’ve got hundreds of millions of these things just getting put into a $20 vape that gets thrown in the bin, it’s tragic.”
