Australia: Activists Want Return Deposits on Vapes

Environmental activists in Australia are calling for a national strategy to force manufacturers, importers and retailers of vaping products to take responsibility for the industry’s waste, especially the disposal of lithium-ion batteries.

Clean Up Australia says consumers are confused about how to responsibly dispose of their used products, which are variously classified as electronic waste or hazardous waste depending on where someone lives in Australia.

The lithium-ion batteries embedded in vaping products, especially disposables, have been blamed for an increasing number of hazardous fires at landfill sites across the island nation.

Pip Kiernan, the head of Clean Up Australia, said consumers should not be left to navigate the complexities of how local councils classify vaping waste, according to media reports.

“It’s a mess and it’s no wonder they are ending up as litter. There is an urgent need for national consistency,” she said. “It shouldn’t be this hard.”

Kiernan wants a mandatory solution that forces responsibility onto the vaping industry and favors something like the deposit on aluminum and glass containers in place around the country.

“The consumer pays 10 cents when they buy a drink, and they get it back when they return the beverage container,” said Kiernan. “So there’s a cash incentive for consumers to do it, and it’s very clear how to do it.”