Vapes, chargers, and other “invisible” e-waste are a 9-million-ton problem.::Chargers, vapes, and other small electronics make up millions of tons of “invisible” e-waste each year. Recycling them could recover billions of dollars worth of precious materials.

While they could and should do better, this seems like another paper straw argument to shift blame to consumers. It’s all our fault for not recycling coke cans.

@Fedizen@lemmy.world
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11Y

I get your point but coke cans are efficient to recycle - aluminum takes more energy to create new than to recycle. Plastics have something like 2% recycling rates so “coke bottle” makes the point better.

@Rooty@lemmy.world
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11Y

A problem that could be solved overnight by legislation. And yet, the consumers are to blame.

@Cort@lemmy.world
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11Y

Something like the lead acid battery laws that make those batteries the most recycled item.

Force sellers to accept all the dead ones and create a mandatory recycling regime.

In some countries theirs already pickups so the logistics for all of this is already done.

Genuinely curious how this compares to cigarette waste and litter. Including lighters that go along with them

Pretty much everything, except for the cellophane is going to degrade in a year or less. Disposable vapes are all plastic and batteries.

KptnAutismus
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41Y

bic lighters are such a scam honestly, you can refill pretty much any other brand besides bic. should be illegal.

Final Remix
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11Y

I thought you could refill Bics… huh. Either way, I have a zippo with a butane replacement. Doesn’t evaporate and ni wick, so it’s easier to maintain.

KptnAutismus
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31Y

yeah, a zippo’s the one to get. not a smoker myself, but they preach about those things like they’re gonna cure lung cancer.

@Sygheil@lemmy.world
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Disposable vape mods need to go, spent units still have batteries inside which can cause fire or small explosion in the waste bin.

For other e-waste manufacturers/oem should think if obsolescence still a good thing in the long run.

TheRealKuni
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41Y

Sometimes when I see disposable vapes as litter I pick them up and take them to Best Buy, where they have Li-ion recycling.

@Sygheil@lemmy.world
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41Y

Most of the disposable users I see are teens.

@Stuka@lemmy.ml
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31Y

It’s just such a waste of money. I paid like $60 for my last mod and I’ve had it for around 5 years. No plans to replace it unless it dies.

@Sygheil@lemmy.world
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Box mods are sturdy and cost efficient. My variable wattage bought in '19 still kicking, however my mech mod i bought in '15 lasted 4 years (corrosion sucks)

@Fisch@lemmy.ml
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61Y

I think they should just make a “Pfand” system for them like we have in germany for plastic bottles. You pay 1€ or 2€ more and you get the money back when you bring it back to the store. That way they can be recycled, which should be pretty easy anyway since you just need to replace the cotton and put new liquid into it. Banning them wouldn’t be a good idea IMO because it’s pretty easy to order them straight from China and not pay any taxes, so people would probably do that and sell them on the street. If more people do that, it will also be a lot easier for kids to buy them, which is already happening but this would just amplify it because there would be more sellers.

@soggy_kitty@sopuli.xyz
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I still to this day don’t understand what would ever attract a human to use or buy a cigarette/vape

@stown@lemmy.world
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51Y

For me, it was a combination of things. I was already an evening user of cannabis and had just started bowling regularly with some friends ( a few of which were smokers). Drinking and bowling go hand in hand and I got curious when my friends went out for smoke breaks so I decided to go with them. First couple times you smoke you get a really nice head-high and don’t really even think about how easy it is to get addicted. By the time that little head-high no longer happens it’s too late and you are addicted.

@Fisch@lemmy.ml
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Pretty much the same thing happened to me. Breaks were boring and a friend had vapes with him that had a pretty high amount of nicotine, so I tried it and it felt pretty good and made the break less boring. Did it more often as time went by until I was basically vaping on every break and I got addicted. Since I also smoke weed, I was also less opposed to smoking in general. It kinda lowers your “barrier of entry”, so to say, when you’re already smoking something else regularly.

I bought a refillable vape after a while tho because I felt really bad buying all these disposable vapes that create a lot of unnecessary waste and because it’s a lot cheaper.

Btw for anyone who wants to switch to a refillable vape, the Vaporesso XROS 3 Mini is great, it’s basically like a disposable vape that you can refill. It’s small and fits in your pocket, you can switch coils by just switching the pod on the top and there’s no need for buttons.

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