Vape recycling across Worcestershire has almost doubled in a year following the disposable vape ban, new figures from Worcestershire County Council show.
The amount of vapes collected at the county’s Household Recycling Centres rose from 1.67 tonnes in 2024 to 3.30 tonnes in 2025, figures show.
However, the council warned that vapes and small electricals are still being found every day at the recycling sorting facility in Norton, Worcestershire.
Councillor Josh Robinson, Worcestershire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Communities, said that the significant increase in vape recycling is encouraging, but warned that too many vapes are still ending up in household waste and recycling bins.
Freedom of Information responses showed that across the UK, there were 1760 battery-linked fires in 2025, a 147% increase in just three years. This means UK fire brigades are tackling fires caused by a lithium-ion battery at a rate of once every five hours.
“Unfortunately, we have seen fires at waste facilities caused by batteries from items such as vapes being placed in general waste or household recycling,” Robinson said.
“These incidents can result in extensive damage to vehicles and facilities and, most importantly, put collection crews and site staff at risk.”
In the year since the disposable vape ban was introduced on 1 June 2025, the number of vapes thrown away each week has decreased from 8.2 million to 6.3 million.
Last week, waste companies called for a £5 deposit to be charged on vapes as an incentive to dispose of them properly.
Biffa, the UK’s largest waste company, suggested the deposit should be £5, which is considerably higher than what will be charged as part of the UK’s deposit return scheme (DRS) for drinks containers.