A deposit return scheme for vapes is needed to help reduce the “colossal” number of batteries being wasted in Ireland every day.

In the first four months of 2023 alone, 26.3 million disposable vaping products were sold – a dramatic increase from the 5.6 million vapes sold throughout 2022.

On Lunchtime Live today Garreth, a landscaper in Galway, said something needs to be done about the waste.

He calculated that the 26.3 million vapes sold in the first four months of 2023 would have had enough lithium inside to power 3,018 Tesla Model 3 electric vehicles.

Garreth also calculated that the batteries of just four disposable vapes could power an iPhone 14 and 41 could power the average Irish home for a year.

'Can't go on'

He said this waste can’t go on any longer.

“I’m going to do something that seems remarkable and I’m going to get people who are EV drivers and people who hate EV drivers to agree on one thing,” said Garreth.

“This is the biggest waste we could ever have, to think we could have over 3,000 EVs on the road and what we have is e-cigarettes in the bushes instead."

Group of vapes. Credit: peter dazeley / Alamy Stock Photo

Garreth is calling for a deposit return scheme to be set up for vapes.

“We have legislation there with WEEE so if you buy a Kindle or a toaster it’s already built into it that you pay a certain amount for the recycling of that product,” he said.

“What I’m looking for is a deposit scheme that is done at the point of sale by people selling these [vapes].

“I would like to see either a €2 or €5 deposit, something substantial that would mean if someone saw it on the street they would say ‘I’m picking that up and dropping it to a shop’.”

“Personally, I’d love to see them at €1,000 so you could guarantee everyone would come back because we can’t afford this waste."

Landscaper Garreth from Galway with some of the vapes he has picked up while at work. Image: Supplied.

Garreth is worried about the dramatic rise in sales of vapes in Ireland.

“A lot of people don’t understand the scale of the sales growth over the past three years,” he said.

“In 2021 it was 5.6 million, in 2022 it was 8.06 million, in 2023 up until May the sales were 26.3 million, so this is not a small increase that’s happened – it’s colossal.”

“The sales jump between 22 and 23 is so large – what are we in for at the end of this year?

“If the sales go up as they did in the previous year, we’re going to be talking in the region of close to 100 million.”

A ban on the sale of disposable vapes to under 18s came into effect last December.

Main image: Single-use disposable vapes lying discarded on the road. Credit: Richard Newton / Alamy Stock Photo