Bristolians urged to recycle vapes safely amid fire safety warnings
Bristol Waste tackled eight e-cigarette fires in one year
Last updated 10th Jun 2025
Vape users in Bristol are being urged to recycle their vapes safely, ahead of a ban on the sale of disposable e-cigarettes.
Fire safety advice is being issued by local authorities across the country in a bid to protect the public and waste collection crews.
The single-use vapes contain lithium-ion batteries, which can catch fire if broken or stored incorrectly.
"In the last year alone, we've had eight fires," said Khadeeja Osman, who works with the sustainability team at Bristol Waste.
"These fires happen when vapes are crashed or damaged, whether that's if they've been run over by a car or because they've got into our bin lorries and been compacted.
"Vapes should never be binned, they need to be recycled."
The advice comes as people and retailers across the country switch to reusable vapes ahead of a Government ban coming into force from Sunday.
From June, disposable e-cigarettes are banned from the shelves in a bid to cut their use among young people as well as the "avalanche" of litter they create.
The crackdown on the devices, also known as single-use vapes, makes it illegal for any retailer - ranging from corner shops to supermarkets - to sell them.
It follows the soaring use of disposable vapes in schools and a flood of plastic rubbish from the discarding of the devices.
Disposable vapes are non-refillable and unable to be recharged, and are typically thrown away with general waste in black bins or littered rather than recycled.
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said: "For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today.
"The Government calls time on these nasty devices."