Breckland Council say it will join the conversation over single-use vapes as calls were made to ban them.
Breckland was asked for its opinion following calls from the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils in England and Wales, which asked the government to ban the sale and manufacture of single-use vapes by 2024.
The LGA highlighted the cost to the taxpayers of the devices because of the fire damage to equipment they cause.
Councillor Helen Crane, Breckland's executive member for waste, said: “Disposable vapes contain lithium batteries encased in plastic which can sharply increase in temperature and become flammable if crushed during waste collection process.
Disposable vapes, such as Lost Mary and Elf bars, have become a regular and hazardous litter item on our streets.
— Local Government Association (LGA) (@LGAcomms) July 15, 2023
Today we are calling for them to be banned, here's why ⤵️🧵 1/3 pic.twitter.com/VLg7frwQrk
“This costs taxpayers money through repairing fire damage to bin lorries and specialist treatment needed to deal with hazardous waste.
“Therefore, I fully support a national conversation on disposable vapes and how they can be correctly recycled.”
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More than 700 fires in bin lorries and recycling centres are believed to have been caused by all kinds of batteries that had been dumped into general waste.
Single-use vapes are designed as one unit, so batteries cannot be separated from the plastic, making them almost impossible to recycle without going through special treatment.
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The LGA also said that 1.3 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week, they have also become a regular and obvious item of litter on our streets.
David Fothergill, who is chairman of the LGA’s community wellbeing board and is the leader of Somerset County Council, said: “Councils are not anti-vapes, which are shown to be less harmful than smoking and have a place as a tool to use in smoking cessation.
“However, disposable vapes are fundamentally flawed in their design and inherently unsustainable products, meaning an outright ban will prove more effective than attempts to recycle more vapes.”
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