Driver sparks outrage after sharing photo of unexpected road hazard: 'They can't ban these fast enough'

Few things are guaranteed to ruin your day quite like a flat tire.

A Redditor turned to the r/whatisit subreddit to discover exactly what punctured their tire,  sharing a series of photos showing the cylinder-shaped object. It was soon revealed to be a discarded battery for vape cartridges. The comments expressed irritation at the increasingly common sight of carelessly disposed vape cartridges and batteries on the street. 

"Disgusting behavior and I hate how much single-use b******* weed vapes have created between the packaging and the cartridges I know no one does anything but throw away," said one commenter. 

"Instead of littering with cigarettes now people will be littering and polluting the earth with vape batteries. What genius thought of that idea?" another posed. 

"They can't ban these fast enough," a commenter suggested. 

The discussion highlights an important point about the massive waste generated by vape cartridges and batteries. 

Electronic waste and its improper disposal are growing problems in the United States. Because the materials used in these products are toxic and not biodegradable, disposing of them is an especially serious environmental concern. 

A 2015 United Nations report found that the vast majority (60-90%) of e-waste was traded or dumped illegally. A 2023 report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group found that Americans were throwing out 4.5 disposable vapes every second. 

Particularly frustrating is the fact that some of the materials used could be recyclable if they weren't encased in a plastic shell. Aluminum, for instance, is easy to melt down and can be recycled endlessly. Meanwhile, the lithium used in batteries poses a hazard if disposed of improperly. 

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One of the comments expressed the ire felt by many in reaction to such needless waste: 

"These 'one-time use' nonsense things full of lithium batteries should have been banned the moment they started catching on, especially when there's plenty of alternatives to this." 

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