Calls for vape waste plan as dozens of fires caused every month from their disposal
Tough laws on the import and sale of vapes risk an environmental disaster with no national plan on how the products – which are causing dozens of fires every month – will be disposed of.
Tough laws on the import and sale of vapes risk an environmental disaster with no national plan on how the products – which are causing dozens of fires in garbage trucks and recycling facilities every month – will be disposed of.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler on Tuesday revealed that 13 tonnes of vapes with a street value of more than $4.5m had been seized in Adelaide in the first major interception since a ban of single-use vape importation came into force on January 1.
The seizure comes as Roy Morgan figures found more than 90,000 Australians had taken up vaping over the past three months, taking the total number of adult vapers above 1.7 million.
From March, adults who seek to vape will need a prescription from a doctor; importers will need a commonwealth licence.
The recycling and waste industry has sounded an alarm at the failure of federal government to accompany the vape import ban – put into place to stop the products getting into the hands of children – with a clear strategy for their disposal, saying fires caused by their batteries are threatening the viability of the recycling and waste sectors.
Veolia, Australia’s biggest environmental services employer, estimated the cost of properly dismantling and recycling vapes to be $5 a product, which was not viable without a properly funded government scheme.
“Sadly, most vapes are destined for landfill because they’re so intricate with many different metals, plastic and battery parts and they can easily explode,” Veolia chief executive Richard Kirkman said.
“They need to be very carefully dismantled manually … we estimate it would cost $5 per vape to recycle, which isn’t sustainable and is cost-prohibitive.”
The Chief executive of B-cycle – Australia’s official battery stewardship scheme – Libby Chaplin said the batteries of incorrectly disposed vapes present a significant damage to trucks and facilities.
“Industry estimates the clean-up of a truck fire, if it dumps its load, is in the order of $5000.
“It would be $250,000 to $500,000 to replace a truck if significantly damaged by fire,” she said.
“The replacement of a facility would be in the order of $60m to $70m.
“It is also important to not forget these fires put the health and safety of workers at risk.”
Ms Chaplin said Australians should never dispose of a vape in a kerbside bin.
Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia chief executive Gayle Sloan said waiting years for state governments to address the issue “would be too late”.
“We can’t wait that long. The reality is we’re having fires in facilities, an average of probably one a day,” she said. “We are we are genuinely concerned about the safety of our workers, let alone the cost and impact this is having on facilities.
“We’re investing heavily in heat sensing technology, but what happens is there’s a significant cost when there’s a disruption to service and insurance premiums go through the roof.
“We need a proper product stewardship scheme.”
WMRRAA wrote to Mr Butler and Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek in October ahead of the vape ban urging for a scheme to be funded so vapes would be properly disposed of.
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