Newark and Sherwood District Council support motion raised by Roger Jackson to consider vape disposal scheme

Disposable vape recycling services could be introduced in the future, after a councillor raised the idea to members.

Roger Jackson presented his motion to Newark and Sherwood District Council at a full council meeting on Tuesday.

He explained he was aware of a number of incidents across the country where disposable vapes, which have lithium batteries, had caused fires in refuse lorries and waste disposal centres.

Mr Jackson added that he also had concerns about the health risks of vaping, particularly for young people.

He said: “As we all know smoking and vaping have their health problems.

“I bring this motion forward not just for the disposal of vapes, but also to show the danger of them.”

It was suggested a separate collection, where people are encouraged to leave their vapes in another container to be collected with their bin, could mitigate the risk of volatile lithium causing fires — although he admitted he wasn’t certain how recyclable the products would be.

He also suggested the visual display of how many vapes people used might provide a wake-up call for some to stop using them.

“It is a poor state of affairs,” Mr Jackson concluded.

Johno Lee seconded the motion, and added: “We seem to be repeating history, it was cigarettes, then alcopops and now vapes.

“I wish we could go further with this motion, I really do.”

Paul Peacock supported the motion and welcomed it to be put to the Policy and Performance Improvement Committee and to Cabinet for a policy to be created.

The council leader said: “Lithium is a valuable commodity — we will need it for energy storage in the future, why are we wasting it on vapes now.”

Lee Brazier added that the policy was a “good start” to protecting the district’s refuse teams, and suggested it may have a “ripple effect” on future policies.

Mike Pringle described the disposable vape situation as unacceptable, and quoted a number of statistics.

He said: “Five million single-use vapes are thrown away every week.

“Only one in six hand vapes in to recognised collection points.”

He added that lithium extraction decimated villages and towns in other countries, just for it to be used in a product which will be thrown away.”

Roger Jackson concluded his motion, stating he wanted to encourage people to dispose of vapes correctly.

The motion was met with unanimous support.