A disposal box makes up a tiny fraction of the 500 tons of vapes that New Yorkers throw out each year, but a small group of people in New York is trying to change that. The vapes, which are frequently sold with tastes聽 like 鈥渇rozen white grape鈥� or 鈥渙range creamsicle鈥� despite a city ban on flavors, was counted as a new category of waste in New York City for the first time in 2023, when the sanitation department did its first 鈥渨aste characterization study鈥� since 2017.
Now, the addictive devices are everywhere 鈥� and causing headaches for waste managers. Vapes are considered hazardous waste under federal law due to the harmful chemicals in nicotine juice, which can be poisonous at high levels.
In addition, the rechargeable, lithium-ion battery used in vapes can be explosive if not cared for and disposed of correctly. These batteries, which are used in everything from laptops to cell phones, have been igniting in the back of garbage trucks, said a spokesperson for the sanitation department, Joshua Goodman.