Vape Waste in Australia: How Big Is the Problem in 2026?

Understanding the scale, environmental impact, and challenges of vape disposal

Australia · Updated April 2026 · 5 min read

You've probably seen a disposable vape on the pavement, at the beach, or in a park bin. But what happens to the millions of vapes that Australians use and discard each year? The short answer is: most end up in landfill, where they pose serious environmental and safety risks. This guide breaks down the scale of Australia's vape waste problem, its environmental consequences, and why proper disposal remains so difficult.

1. What Is Vape Waste?

Vape waste refers to used vaping devices and components that are discarded after use. This includes:

• Disposable vapes: Sealed units containing a battery, e‑liquid, coil, and plastic casing.
• Pod systems: Rechargeable batteries with replaceable pods.
• Replacement pods and cartridges: Often plastic and e‑liquid residue.
• E‑liquid bottles and packaging.

Each of these items contains a mix of materials—lithium‑ion batteries, electronic circuitry, plastic, and residual nicotine—that make safe disposal complicated.

2. How Many Vapes Are Discarded in Australia?

Estimates vary, but all point to a growing crisis. Key figures include:

• Up to 1 million vapes are going into landfill each week, according to industry estimates . That adds up to over 50 million vapes per year. In 2024, import figures revealed that over 90 million vapes were entering the country annually, with the vast majority destined for landfill .
• Using overseas patterns as a guide, Australia likely discards between 6.2 and 17.2 million disposable vapes each year .
• Electronic waste from vapes has become the seventh most collected category of litter nationwide, the first time it has made the top 10 . Single‑use vapes were found at nearly a third of all Clean Up Australia sites between mid‑2023 and mid‑2024 .
• Daily e‑cigarette use in Australia rose from about 100,000 people in 2016 to approximately 700,000 by 2022–23, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare .

Despite federal bans on the importation of disposable vapes from mid‑2024, they remain widely available on the black market and continue to be discarded in massive quantities .

3. Environmental Impact: More Than Just Litter

3.1 Fire Hazard

Lithium‑ion batteries in vapes are a major fire risk. When crushed in garbage trucks or damaged at landfill sites, they can ignite, causing fires that endanger workers and destroy infrastructure. The Australian Council of Recycling estimates that up to 12,000 fires may be caused by batteries annually across the country, and waste industry operators identify vapes as one of the biggest culprits .

A notorious example: a fire at a Canberra waste facility on 26 December 2022, confirmed to be caused by e‑cigarettes, destroyed the plant and cost over $50 million to rebuild . Fire services across Australia report responding to at least one battery‑related fire each week in Victoria alone .

3.2 Chemical Leaching and Soil Contamination

When vapes end up in landfill, their components break down over time. The lithium‑ion batteries can corrode, releasing heavy metals into soil and groundwater. Residual e‑liquid containing nicotine and other chemicals can also leach out, contaminating the surrounding environment . Clean Up Australia describes vapes as a "triple threat to the environment"—plastic waste, e‑waste, and hazardous waste all in one small device .

Discarded pods and devices also leak toxic chemicals that can harm marine life and contaminate waterways .

3.3 Lost Resources

Each disposable vape contains valuable materials—lithium, copper, plastic, and other metals. When thrown in general waste, these resources are lost forever. The 150 million vapes discarded annually in the US contain enough lithium to make 6,000 batteries for Tesla vehicles . Australia is throwing away a similar proportion of these critical minerals, which are essential for renewable energy storage and electric vehicles .

4. Why Is Disposal So Difficult?

Despite the obvious problems, disposing of vapes properly remains challenging for several reasons:

• No national disposal scheme: As of 2026, Australia still lacks a standardised, nationwide system for vape disposal. The federal government allocated $12.5 million over three years from 2024‑25 to establish a consumer collection scheme, but there has been no clear deployment of those funds .
• Embedded batteries: Most vapes are disposable, meaning the lithium‑ion battery is sealed inside and cannot be easily removed. This makes them ineligible for most battery recycling programs, including the B‑Cycle network .
• Mixed hazardous components: Vapes are simultaneously classified as e‑waste (due to electronic components) and hazardous waste (due to nicotine residue). No single recycling stream handles both, leaving consumers confused .
• Illegal market: Since most vapes are sold illegally, brand owners cannot be identified or held responsible for end‑of‑life disposal under product stewardship laws .
• Low public awareness: Many people do not realise their vape contains a battery or that it can be recycled. EPA Victoria's CEO noted that "many people probably wouldn't even realise there is an embedded battery within a vape, which is why we see it disposed of in general waste" .

Without a clear disposal pathway, most vapes end up exactly where they shouldn't—in household bins, on streets, and in landfill.

5. Summary

• ✅ Australia discards an estimated 50+ million vapes annually—over 1 million per week.
• ✅ Vapes cause up to 12,000 battery‑related fires each year across waste facilities.
• ✅ They leach toxic chemicals, contaminate soil and water, and waste valuable resources like lithium.
• ✅ There is still no national disposal scheme, leaving most vapes to end up in landfill.
• ✅ Improving recycling access and awareness is essential to tackling the problem.

Understanding the scale of vape waste is the first step toward solving it. In the coming articles, we'll look at what actually happens to vapes after they're thrown away and how you can dispose of yours responsibly.