The Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) has partnered with Elfbar in a new pilot programme encouraging responsible disposal of single-use vaping products.
With the Scottish government considering the ban on single-use vapes and the ongoing debate surrounding the environmental impact of littering single-use vapes, the approach will involve a roll-out of vape recycling units at various locations around Scotland.
Yesterday marked the initial first step of a long-term programme, as the pilot launched at multi-award winning retailer, Anand Cheema’s Costcutter in Fresh in Falkirk.
The store became home to the vape recycling bin, which will see a total of 20 SGF member stores across Scotland, beginning from October.
Dr Pete Cheema OBE chief executive of SGF explained that responsible community retailing was a key focus for Scottish Grocers’ Federation.
“That is why we value the opportunity to work in partnership with ELFBAR to address the environmental damage done by single-use vaping products if they are not disposed of responsibly,” he said. “SGF recognise however that single-use vapes can also be a gateway to long-term vaping products for those quitting smoking, but that they must stop appearing in our streets and parks.
He added that offering the service could encourage customers to return to businesses. “Stores participating in the pilot will be able to offer customers a return point in-store through a recycling bin for used vapes and retailers will be provided with a convenient waste and recycling option as part of this.”
‘’This is the first part of an Elfbar & SGF “Recycle Used Vapes” Programme. However, there will be a further announcement at our SGF Annual Conference next month around waste and recycling options for these products and which convenience retailers will have the opportunity to sign up to over the two days of our flagship event.”
Anand Cheema said: “As a convenience retailer, I want to play my part in reducing the littering associated with single-use, vaping products which in turn will benefit our local environment. This is a positive step forward and one which I fully support.”
Eve Peters director of government affairs and spokesperson for Elfbar said: “We welcome the opportunity to join with SGF in this important extension of our GreenAwareness recycling programme. To date, our own programme has covered 70 stores in England and Wales with plans to scale up in terms of recycling bin coverage by the end of the year, including the 20 SGF member stores in Scotland in this pilot partnership with SGF. Recycling points for used vapes have increased significantly in Scotland in recent months and we have worked to extend our recycling effort into the convenience sector, therefore we will be making further announcements in partnership with the SGF at the conference in October.”
The move comes after a recent study by Material Focus found that the number of disposable vapes being thrown away has almost quadrupled from 1.3 million to five million per week in the past year.
How are the vapes recycled?
The stores participating in the pilot will have their used vapes in recycling bins collected by Recover, a UK lithium battery recycling company, to responsibly handle the discarded devices. The products are then 100% disassembled by TES-AMM (Europe) Ltd, an AATF-certified recycling company, in Scotland. The programme is designed to ensure the raw materials are properly dismantled and recycled, including plastics and the battery, as part of ELFBAR’s commitment to the delivery of a closed recycling loop by 2025.
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