Why it matters: Vaping has been around for a long time, but its popularity didn't skyrocket until the early 2010s. Since then, it has significantly contributed to the world's e-waste problem, with thousands of disposable devices filling landfills and recycling centers. Not only are e-cigarettes damaging to the environment, but they are also a growing fire hazard.
Fire Rover, a company that specializes in automated and semi-automated fire suppression systems, released its annual report noting that waste and recycling fires are steadily rising. In 2024, the company recorded 2,910 fires – a 60-percent increase from 2023's 1,809 and a 100-percent jump from 2022's 1,409 incidents. The report also notes that fire crews dispatched to emergencies at trash and recycling facilities hit a record high of 398, a steady growth since Fire Rover began tracking the stat at 275 incidents in 2016.
Lithium-ion battery fires are not new, nor are they the only cause of trash and recycling blazes. Fire Rover CEO Ryan Fogelman told Ars Technica things like fireworks, pool chemicals, and hot barbeque briquettes pose just as much risk. However, batteries, particularly those in disposable vaping products, are a rapidly growing cause mainly because of consumer ignorance and a lack of widespread e-waste collection.
Many well-meaning customers know not to throw their vapes in the regular trash, so they use the other option – recycling bins, which is no better. No matter which facility these devices land in, they can ignite in many ways. Crushing pressure, puncturing, short-circuiting, and vibration from facility operations are common causes. However, battery defects, internal cell failure, and overheating are indirect means of ignition that refuse centers cannot control. Fogelman estimates that about half of the incidents Fire Rover tracks are battery-related, costing facilities approximately $2.5 billion in 2024 alone.
The CEO says that a properly functioning e-waste infrastructure could reduce this trend, but that does not currently exist and does not seem to be a high priority. Furthermore, the few facilities offering e-waste collection are abandoning or restricting it, likely because of the associated costs.
For example, my local refuse center used to pick up e-waste once a year. It recently discontinued that service. Customers can still bring in their e-waste, but the facility has a long list of items it refuses to accept. The added inconvenience of having to haul in their old electronics and the annoyance of not having anywhere else to dispose of the unaccepted items has likely led many to just chuck the lot into the regular recycle bin or the trash.
Fire Rover points its finger at the vaping industry, believing it should take more responsibility for helping clean up the mess it has helped create.
"Not only are their batteries being improperly discarded in waste and recycling bins, but the vape industry has done the bare minimum to invest in the technology needed to address the 1.2 billion vapes entering our waste and recycling streams annually," the report states.
Of course, you could always just use them to charge your phone.
Image credit: Vaping360
Waste fires are on the rise largely thanks to the lithium-ion batteries in vape pens
