B&M partners with Elf Bar and Supreme plc for vape recycling initiative

Stock image, vapes. Under the new partnership, all recycling processes will take place within the UK.

The partnership will introduce more than 700 in-store vape recycling bins across B&M Retail locations.

Scheduled for deployment this month, the campaign aims to enhance vape recycling by providing consumers with a means of disposing of their used vape devices. These are not collected from homes.

The hazardous waste management provider Wastecare Group will oversee the collection of the bins once full, ensuring the responsible disposal of the single-use devices.

A B&M spokesperson said: “B&M welcomes the opportunity to work in a three-way partnership with Elf Bar and Supreme to tackle the ongoing environmental damage occurring by single-use, disposable vaping products.

“We want our consumers to use the products we sell in a responsible manner, and that remains even when they are no longer of use. Like many of the other products we sell, vapes should never be binned or littered – especially now they can be so easily recycled.”

The Scottish Government has expressed intentions to consult on banning single-use vapes due to concerns about their impact on public health and the environment. The UK Government is being urged to follow suit.

Wastecare Group’s recycling process involves the recovery and recycling of raw materials in accordance with existing disposal rules. The collected vape batteries will undergo processing to recover lithium, while the filter and nicotine elements will be sent for incineration.

All recycling processes will take place within the UK.

Elf Bar UK’s director of government affairs Eve Peters said: “Continuing Elf Bar’s commitment to its GreenAwareness programme, this marks another step towards helping the public dispose of used vapes sustainably and responsibly.”

This initiative follows a decision by the UK’s Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) last year to ban an advertising campaign for single-use vapes by Elf Bar.

The ASA ruled that the campaign was misleading viewers about product recyclability, underscoring the limited recycling options for single-use vapes in the UK.