--- description: E-cigarettes, and particularly disposable vapes, generate lots of waste and are bad for the environment, a new report says. title: The Overlooked Environmental Impact of Vaping image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70a09dc9721062ef/698a3e8eb21a9c4062507664/vape-waste.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Climate](/section/climate/) ## Climate Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Environmental Health](/tag/environmental-health/) ## Environmental Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The Overlooked Environmental Impact of Vaping  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jul 11, 2023 6:44 PM CUT  A discarded disposable vape pen in London on June 22, 2023. A discarded disposable vape pen in London on June 22, 2023.Mike Kemp/In Pictures—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Jul 11, 2023 6:44 PM CUT Lined up end-to-end, the disposable e-cigarettes sold and (presumably) trashed annually in the U.S. could stretch across the country and back again, according to a [new report](https://pirg.org/resources/vape-waste-the-environmental-harms-of-disposable-vapes/ "undefined") that highlights a growing problem: vape waste. Disposable vapes typically have plastic bodies that are designed to be used until they’re empty and then tossed, as opposed to devices that can be refilled with nicotine e-liquids or pods. The CDC Foundation, a nonprofit that supports the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, [estimates](https://www.cdcfoundation.org/National-E-CigaretteSales-DataBrief-2023-Mar26?inline "undefined") that each month in the U.S., consumers purchase 11.9 million disposable e-cigarettes. Based on that figure, the new report—from the U.S. PIRG Education Fund, a nonpartisan consumer-interest group—estimates that the disposable vapes sold annually would stretch longer than 7,000 miles if lined up, more than twice the width of the continental U.S. Once little-used, disposable e-cigarettes accounted for about 53% of e-cigarette unit sales in the U.S. as of March 2023, according to the CDC Foundation. Single-use products like Puff Bar have also unseated once-dominant vaping brands like [Juul](https://time.com/6048234/juul-downfall/ "undefined") (which sells devices that can be recharged and refilled with e-liquid cartridges) among underage users, [according to federal data](https://time.com/6103004/puff-bar-teen-vaping/ "undefined"). That swift ascent started in part because of a [regulatory loophole](https://time.com/6098897/vaping-companies-synthetic-nicotine/ "undefined"). In early 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a [ban on the sale of many flavored vaping products](https://time.com/5758004/flavored-vape-ban/ "undefined")—but disposable e-cigarettes were not part of the policy, making them an appealing option for people who wanted to continue to use flavors. Their takeoff has concerned both public-health and environmental advocates. In addition to creating plenty of plastic waste, discarded e-cigarettes can be considered both e-waste (because of their circuitry and lithium-ion batteries) and [hazardous waste](https://www.epa.gov/hwgenerators/frequent-questions-about-management-standards-hazardous-waste-pharmaceuticals-and#vape "undefined") (because they contain nicotine). E-cigarettes are also difficult to recycle, and many people don’t even try: [garbology research](https://time.com/5697131/trash-tobacco-use-study/ "undefined") has found evidence of plenty of vape litter. A [2022 survey](https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/harmful-effects-tobacco/most-young-users-put-disposable-e-cigarettes-trash "undefined") found that just 8% of teen or young-adult vapers sent their used disposable devices to recycling facilities. Within the e-cigarette category, disposables “pose the highest potential environmental costs,” according to [a 2018 paper](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6187764/ "undefined") in the _American Journal of Public Health_, because they aren’t used as long as refillable models. A 2022 [letter](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanres/article/PIIS2213-2600%2822%2900187-4/fulltext "undefined") in _the Lancet Respiratory Medicine_ called for tighter regulations on single-use vapes to ward off “environmental disaster.” Some legislators have pushed for such regulations. Lawmakers in California and New York have, respectively, introduced bills meant to [limit the sale](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill%5Fid=202120220AB1690 "undefined") of single-use vapes—many of which have not cleared the [FDA’s authorization process](https://time.com/6094858/fda-e-cigarette-decision/ "undefined")—and [establish better disposal practices](https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default%5Ffld=&leg%5Fvideo=&bn=A01598&term=&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y "undefined") for e-cigarettes. A recent New York City [lawsuit](https://www.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/493-23/mayor-adams-corporation-counsel-hinds-radix-lawsuit-against-four-companies-illegally#/0 "undefined") also aims to block flavored e-cigarettes sales there, with a particular emphasis on disposable products. A representative for the Vapor Technology Association, a trade group for the vaping industry, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the meantime, suggests the new report, people who vape can make a simple switch to benefit the environment: choose reusable devices instead of those that go straight in the trash. “Nothing used for a day or two,” the report says, “should pollute our environment for hundreds of years.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6293772/disposable-vapes-plastic-waste/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6293772/disposable-vapes-plastic-waste/"},"headline":"The Overlooked Environmental Impact of Vaping","datePublished":"2023-07-11T18:44:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:08:24.333Z","description":"E-cigarettes, and particularly disposable vapes, generate lots of waste and are bad for the environment, a new report says.","url":"https://time.com/6293772/disposable-vapes-plastic-waste/","keywords":["Environmental Health","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70a09dc9721062ef/698a3e8eb21a9c4062507664/vape-waste.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Climate","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt70a09dc9721062ef/698a3e8eb21a9c4062507664/vape-waste.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Discarded Vape Pen","caption":"Discarded Vape Pen","creditText":"Mike Kemp/In Pictures—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/climate/","name":"Climate"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/environmental-health/","name":"Environmental Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6293772/disposable-vapes-plastic-waste/","name":"The Overlooked Environmental Impact of Vaping"}}]}] ```