Plastic and pollution are, fortunately, big news now. Are you disposing of your e-liquid plastic bottles and tops in your recycling bin? Good for you! Most vapers we think are pretty eco-conscious. Vaping is less polluting than cigarette smoking. Also, the production of an e-cig is not as harmful to the planet as cigarettes manufacturing. However, a cigarette can be thrown in your bio-bin and is biodegradable. But where do you toss empty cartomizers? In the trash is the answer.

If you are an e-liquid user, you probably buy those little 10ml plastic bottles to refill your vaping device. The plastic bottle is indeed recyclable so it can go in your green bin. (However, if you are really green-minded, you can wash it out and reuse it too.) Most plastic e-liquid bottles will, you can guess, end up as landfill or will be incinerated, releasing harmful toxins in the air. What has made matters worse is the regulation by the Tobacco Products Directive, which states that the 10ml e-liquid plastic bottle is the maximum size. So vapers can only buy a small bottle, rather than a larger size, which makes more and more plastic waste. Here’s the math – an average vaper uses about 180 bottles of e-liquid a year in the present 10ml format. If they could buy e-liquid in 100ml bottles, the number goes down to 18.

Another regulation by the TBD is that those little plastic bottles must be sold with written health warnings. The wording must be specific and easily readable, not possible on an 10ml bottle label. So e-liquid packaging is often a cardboard box just to accommodate the TBD health warning. More waste.

If you are bothered about these TBD regulations, you will be heartened to know about the Electronic Cigarettes (Regulation) Bill (HC Bill 59). This has been presented to Parliament on March 16, 2018 as a Private Members bill with support from the Independent British Vape Trade Association. It was tabled by Sir Christopher Chope MP. The bill proposes the deregulation of The Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016 for electronic cigarette products. So maybe you will be able to buy e-liquid in 100ml plastic bottles in the future. And no cardboard box.