I'm looking to see what organisations are doing to tackle the increase in disposable e-cigs and the risks to the environment and potential fires. We're running a campaign this week and would be interested in how others are collecting or disposing of them safely.

Its not that, they currently pose an environmental risk due to the batteries and chemicals they contain, and they have been the initiator in many bin lorry fires, so we're looking at a campaign and a location at our hubs where people can dispose of them safely and then they are disposed of correctly. 

Designated ventilated smoking area well away from entrances/exits, lockable metal waste bin at that area and emptied when nearly full into a metal container, when this is full have it removed as hazardous waste by competent contractor.

Post signs and notices around those areas and inform all employees of your procedure.

If you have company medical team you could get them to initiate a campaign about harmful effects from vaping and safe disposal.  If no medical team you can do this yourself but get Management onside first.  Get this issue onto the regular H&S meetings and if unionised get them on board as well.

Personally I would just ban it, full stop.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it! 

When it comes to environmental concerns the basic issue is that the vapes are on the whole seen as a cheap disposal  product. They are contracted from multiple types of plastic and metals and always contain a battery.  To be recycled they need to be  dismantled  and the individual components recycled but that is not going to happen as the cost out ways the value of anything recovered. So they get dumped.

If we just banned them it would be much easier…

If we banned most things it would much easier …

If we banned most thing we would be out a job!

If companies weren't so busy falling over themselves to pursue the green agenda through deed instead of empty words these questions would not be appearing.

Natural evolution will eventually see companies controlling what they can on their premises by adopting "take your own rubbish home schemes" to support the policy of being zero waste to land fill.

"take your own rubbish home schemes" are of course illegal, commercial waste must not be mixed with domestic waste even if it is essentially the same sort of stuff.

From a recyclers point of view, disposable e-cigs are starting to become an issue for my employer. We only recycle glass, but contaminants will make their way into our system from poorly sorted MRF (Material recycling facility) waste or from people throwing their vapes into skips or bottle banks on our supplier sites. These are removed from the waste by magnets and eddy current systems quite easily and then dropped into isolated concrete bays where the risk of fire damage is fairly low. Combine that with sprinklers, spark detectors, regular inspection, well placed fire extinguishers and water hoses means that fires from them don't tend to get further than smouldering. We have been dealing with batteries for many years so the controls were already in place. From there, it is sent off to a recycling partner that specialises in metals and electronics. We use GreCon for our fire detection and their systems have been great. 

The problem is that we are seeing an increasing amount and it does cost us to send them on for further recycling or if a fire extinguisher is used. Theres also the residual risk that one could potentially make it past the sorting systems, but we haven't had this happen yet.

Originally Posted by: chris42

is the packaging your sandwiches come in... commercial waste?

When they are provided by the employer as reward or enticement definately.

Reported.

Unusually late in the day for hidden link posters, but perhaps this one has been sampling their own product?

As for risks to the environment a few dozen discarded Vapes won't make any difference whether all together in one bin or scatterered throughout the world because the environment is a very big place.  I once dealt with complaints from members of the public about buses starting up every morning at the same time and spewing out their diesel fumes in the garage yard.  HSE's answere was same as I just wrote above.

Don't waste the vodka!

Apologies, here is the YouTube link - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l94tWf3XZE