Sanitation worker calls out concerning trend taking over city streets: 'I've never seen anything like it before'

A Redditor was seeing a growing problem on the job and checked in with the community at r/CasualUK for feedback.

"Has anybody noticed the amount of disposable vapes and the packaging all over our streets lately?" wrote the original poster. "I work as a street cleaner and I've never seen anything like it before surely this isn't sustainable."

Vape waste has certainly been on the rise, even becoming a safety hazard for drivers. The UK recently banned single-use vapes in an effort to curb negative health outcomes among youth, but this has largely led to rechargeable vapes being used disposably. Anecdotal evidence suggests that usage hasn't gone down perceptibly.

Even once vapes get into proper waste streams, they add to a growing e-waste problem. Waste management personnel have seen ongoing challenges with vapes as their lithium-ion batteries have created fire hazards during processing.

Once in a dump, these items can leach harmful chemicals into the nearby soil and water supplies. Plastic casings can shed particles over time that end up in our food chain. Animals can even be harmed by exposure to wasted vapes.

Knowing your recycling options can ensure used vapes get managed most responsibly, but it's even better to cut off the problem at the source. Quitting vaping is not only better for the environment, but it's also a big improvement for personal health. Vaping has been shown to produce loads of toxic heavy metals.

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Reddit community members had noticed the growing problem of vape waste in the UK as well.

"The manufacturers should be being held responsible to provide ways to get these things recycled," wrote one commenter. "Such a waste of perfectly good lithium batteries. I don't know if they imply that they are disposable, if they do they should be being fined."

"I despair at what all those lithium batteries must be doing to the environment. Save the animals," replied another.

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