They are banned here in Australia, unfortunately it has created a huge black market for these things.
Almost every neighborhood now has a cigarette store that also sells gifts and US chocolates that are basically just fronts for this stuff. Black market vapes and cigarettes. Even the police in many parts here don't really enforce this stuff.
What I find even crazier than the batteries being disposed is that some of these have some decent processor tech in them. Like this one that has a 48Mhz ARM processor in. https://ripitapart.com/category/disposable-vape-hacks/
There is a massive gulf between "be recyclable" and actually being recycled.
Depending on energy and cost intensive recycling, which can only ever capture a percentage of the waste, is silly. This kind of thing needs to be stopped at the source.
Manufacturers should be required to actually take back anything with that logo. You can buy so much stuff that becomes a serious problem to dispose of and that stupid logo is all that's required of the manufacturer. Cost of disposal would then get added to the price of the object, as it should to begin with!
Everything with a sealed, soldered battery makes me furious on this front. Every item with a battery that recharges through the device instead of having a battery door like a Game Boy is on a timer, and for no good reason other than planned obsolescence.
All of the disposables I've seen have USB ports for charging because they come with more juice than battery power sufficient to vape it all. You will have to recharge multiple times for one disposable. I'm not in the UK, but I have seen something of a shift to separating the battery component from the vape tank such that you can just buy a new disposable tank and reuse the batteries. Maybe something like that might work in the UK grey areas.
They are illegal in Australia, but they are all over the ground. Littered like cigarette butts. Only now instead of just being plastic and some slightly toxic substances. It's a whole e-waste package.
Almost every neighborhood now has a cigarette store that also sells gifts and US chocolates that are basically just fronts for this stuff. Black market vapes and cigarettes. Even the police in many parts here don't really enforce this stuff.
What I find even crazier than the batteries being disposed is that some of these have some decent processor tech in them. Like this one that has a 48Mhz ARM processor in. https://ripitapart.com/category/disposable-vape-hacks/