Electronic cigarettes, one of the possible help for those who want to quit smoking, a probable threat for the tobacco multinationals, but what do we really know about their disposal as waste? In fact, technological cigarettes represent, at the end of their life cycle, an electronic type of waste that needs to be disposed of correctly.
Le electronic cigarettes, one of the possible help for those who want quit smoking, a probable threat to the tobacco multinationals, but what we really know about them disposal as waste? In fact, technological cigarettes represent, at the end of their life cycle, an electronic type of waste that needs to be disposed of correctly.
THEinformation on the exact disposal of electronic cigarettes is rather poor. The shopkeepers who deal with their sale were defined as poorly informed and therefore unable to advise buyers of the product in this regard as they should. To clarify the situation was intervened on Remedia Consortium.
The electronic cigarette, or E-Cigarette, sees the presence inside it of a rechargeable battery. For this reason the product must be managed as a real one technological waste, when it has concluded its function. Danilo Bonato, general manager of the Remedia Consortium for the Management and Disposal of WEEE Waste, committed to the sustainable management of technological waste, stressed that shopkeepers are not sufficiently informed about it.
Following the boom in sales and use of e-cigarettes, their manufacturers would have started to join the consortium and request more news about e-cigarettes as part of WEEE. The major role regarding the proper disposal of electronic cigarettes however, it is up to the citizens.
At the end of their use, electronic cigarettes must not be thrown into the garbage of unsorted collection, but must be delivered to the ecological island closer, or must be returned to the shopkeepers, who are obliged to collect them free of charge when purchasing a new product.
But pay attention to the battery. The cigarette must be delivered to retailers or ecological islands for proper disposal after being deprived of the battery. The battery must be delivered to the ecological island separately from the electronic cigarette or it must be delivered to the shopkeeper, who will have to anyway collect it for free without the customer being obliged to purchase a new product.
With regard to the disposal of electronic cigarettes as waste, therefore, the dissemination of correct behavior and information is currently rather scarce. Following what has been learned about thanks to the information made known by the Remedia Consortium, some doubts still remain open to which we try to answer.
Where to throw theatomizer that usually needs to be changed once a month? It represents the heart of the electronic cigarette and must be given to the ecological island: you will notice, in fact, that the CE mark and the symbol of the crossed out bin are present (or should be).
I liquid containers can be disposed of together with the recyclable plastic? As they are packaging, they can be placed in the plastic bin. The same goes for the "cartridges" used by some models which, however, must be properly cleaned.
Different speech for i rigid plastic spouts which, not being packaging, must be thrown in the unsorted bin.
The cigarettes electronics solve the problem of butts, but they generate new doubts, as well as a different type of waste. We remain therefore waiting for answers clear and correct solutions.
Marta Albè
READ also:
Electronic cigarettes: boom, but how safe are they?
Cigarettes / La cicca: the little waste that we all trample on and that we all pay for
