For the duration of term 3, the Waste and Recycling Team set up two disposable vape upcycling points on campus - outside the Library and outside the SU - supplied by Biffa, our waste management company.

The vapes will be reused and upcycled.

This trial is responding to the increasing popularity of disposable vapes amongst our university population and the dangers/hazards of their incorrect disposal in a nonspecific waste stream such as general waste or recycling bins.

Robert Seymour (Waste & Recycling Supervisor) says it's important to educate students on the dangers of incorrect vape disposal because "when vapes are thrown into the wrong waste stream, the waste management company are unaware that the vapes are in the bins. The bin contents are then lifted and crushed on site. If the Lithium battery cell is ruptured in this process it can cause the vehicle to catch fire as the battery cell will set fire to the contents of the vehicle. Sometimes the vapes can make it all the way to the waste management company waste transfer station where lots of different waste streams are sorted and yet again if the battery cell ruptures at this point it can cause conveyor belt fires."