Escape the vapes: UCL's Professor Miodownik joins call for global shift against disposable vapes

Professor Mark Miodownik is part of a group of scientists that have called for a concerted global effort to stem the tide of disposable electronic technologies – such as vapes – contributing to international waste accumulation and environmental degradation.

Writing in the journal Science, researchers from across the UK have highlighted how disposable vape sales quadrupled in the UK between 2022 and 2023, with consumers now throwing away around five million devices each week.

UCL Mechanical Engineering Professor of Materials & Society, Miodownik is leading the UCL team with the Big Repair Project, which has joined forces with many other academics and teams from across the country to campaign for the UK government to change the legislation on vapes.

One of the main upshots is that vapes and other disposable technologies – including mini-fans and single-use headphones – often contain valuable resources, such as lithium and other rare earth elements. While the technologies may be marketed as recyclable, it is sold without clear recycling instructions and offers minimal incentives to consumers to return the valuable materials once they have finished using them.

To address this, the researchers have called for urgent reform of disposable electronics practices in the technology industry, to avoid continued resource depletion and environmental degradation.

Their call follows recent legislation introduced in the UK (as well as other countries) to limit the availability of disposable vapes, as part of a wider drive to reduce the impact of smoking and electronic alternatives.

Professor Miodownik (pictured) said:

The publishing of our letter shows the importance of banning disposable vapes to protect the environment. We recognise that banning products which give millions of people pleasure might seem anti-business. But the companies involved have not acted responsibly. Indeed, what is becoming very clear is that disposability itself is not compatible with a healthy planet.

Whilst the ban has come into place in the UK, Miodownik knows their work is far from done. This is a global problem to protect our planet, and he is hopeful other countries will soon follow suit.

Further Links

• Read more in the article published in Science
• Professor Mark Miodownik's UCL Profile
• Big Repair Project
• Danielle Purkiss from the Big Repair Project
• Repair Cafés: events to promote repairing items and reducing unnecessary waste (held at MechSpace several times a year)