FOI reveals Sussex council recycles highest number of vapes in UK

In 2025/26 a total of 374,000 vapes were recycled in 2025/26 by West Sussex County Council – the highest number out of all UK councils.

This equates to over 11 tonnes (11.22) of waste, based on a typical vape weighing 30g.

West Sussex County Council recorded 5.46 tonnes of vapes disposed of at Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) in 2025 and 5.76 tonnes between January 1 and August 31, 2026.

The FOI revealed that the vape disposal was counted by total weight rather than individual items and that vapes collected via district or borough schemes were not included.

A new campaign by Vape Superstore is highlighting the dangers of disposing electrical waste, such as vapes, in household general waste or recycling bins, as lithium-ion batteries can pose a fire risk if damaged during waste collection.

David Phillips from Vape Superstore has shared how to recycle vapes to help reduce your impact on the environment and to ensure products are being disposed of safely and correctly.

He said: “E-liquid bottles are usually made from plastic but can also be made of glass. If you look at the base of your bottles, you’ll see the recycling triangle as well as a number inside which indicates the kind of plastic it’s made of.

“When it comes to plastic bottles, you’ll need to give them a good wash to remove any traces of nicotine-containing e-liquid first. You can then seal them up and pop them in your household recycling bin.

“Vape tanks are made of a combination of a plastic or resin drip tip, a glass sleeve that holds your e-liquid, rubber seals, a coil, and metal to hold it all together. The plastic drip tip is too small to be picked up by the machines at recycling facilities and needs to go in your bin, and so does the rubber.

“When it comes to glass, because tanks are typically made with Pyrex, it’s a different type of glass than you’d get when buying groceries in jars and needs to be disposed of separately.

“The metal component of your tank can’t go in the household recycling bin but can be taken to the tip to be broken down as scrap metal. As for the coil, if you can pull the cotton wicking material out, you can also pop the metal component into the scrap metal bin.

“If your kit has an external battery, which isn’t giving much life anymore, you can drop it off at a battery recycling bin, which can be found in supermarkets. Some household recycling offers battery recycling, so check your local council website for details.

“The vape kits with built-in batteries will need to be dropped off where electronics like laptop batteries, cellphones and other tech can be recycled.

“As a general rule, as long as you can separate the tank or pod that holds your e-liquid from the battery, it can usually be recycled in some capacity.”