It is estimated that approximately five million single-use e-cigarettes are disposed of each week in the UK; That’s about eight every second.

In recent years, the use of disposable items has risen sharply – including in Canada where: According to one studyThey are now the most widely used type of e-cigarette among young people.

What many vapers don’t realize is that the devices they dispose of contain rare earth metals that are key to many new technologies.

Non-profit group Material concentration estimates The batteries inside all e-cigarettes phased out in the UK in 2022 contain enough lithium to power at least 5,000 electric cars.

For Chris Doyle, that’s an absurd waste.

Doyle is a 25-year-old engineer who works for a large car manufacturer in the Midlands, England.

“I see people around me smoking this stuff and throwing it away after one use. And the electronics engineer in me was thinking: ‘How do I get rid of this stuff?'” said Doyle from his garage shop in Rugby City.

“Especially when you see little flashing lights. I knew they probably had valuable electronics inside.”

So Doyle did what any engineer worth his salt would do: he opened an e-cigarette to see what a battery cell looked like.

“When I first saw these cells, I was thinking they looked a lot like the cells we already use inside our e-bike batteries, anyway. So I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t use these instead.”

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“So the first step is to collect them and that’s not very difficult. They’re scattered absolutely everywhere. You find them in the bushes, kicking them on the sidewalk.”

Doyle calculated that he would need 130 units to power his bike.

He tested each battery to ensure it worked safely, and designed the wires and 3D-printed casing to hold them together.

Doyle warns that no one should attempt this unless they are fully familiar with electronics and batteries.

“They can generate excessive heat. They can burn you, they can explode, they can burn down your house.

Doyle estimates that the cost of his homemade e-bike battery is about a quarter of the price of a commercial model, but he says the project was not about saving money.

“It’s an incredible source of electronic waste, and I’m really happy that I was able to collect all that waste and build some really interesting battery packs,” Doyle says.

“Because I’m able to show the rest of the world – and all the other countries that haven’t banned it yet – what it’s capable of, and I hope to accelerate that process as well as raise awareness to get people to move to reusable products.” “Alternatives.”

The UK will ban disposable e-cigarettes in 2025, with other countries set to follow suit.

Mark Miodownik is Professor of Materials and Society at University College London.

He says the issue of e-cigarette waste is part of a much larger problem.

“Once you extract lithium (from the ground), you really want to keep it. It’s just an absolute crime to throw it away,” Miodownik says.

“Why is it cheap to dispose of valuable materials? Well, because the price is artificial. It doesn’t include pollution. And if you add pollution, it’s not cheap and disposal won’t be an option.”

Miodownik believes that legislation and education are key to creating a more circular economy where we reuse, repair or reduce our consumption of valuable or harmful materials.

With a ban on e-cigarettes looming in the UK, Doyle knows time may be running out for him to complete his next projects.

He wants to use hundreds, or even thousands, of e-cigarettes to create an electric wall — perhaps connected to solar panels — to power his workshop, or even his home.

Since one of his videos went viral on YouTube, he’s even had people offer to send him their used e-cigarettes.

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