Sevenoaks District Council is urging residents to stop putting vapes in their household waste after a suspected vape fire broke out in the back of one of its refuse trucks.
The fire could have seriously injured the crew. But the team spotted it quickly and no one was hurt, according to the council’s warning posted on social media. Sevenoaks District Council says the incident makes clear why vapes — which contain lithium batteries — must never go into a black bin, recycling collection or garden waste collection.
The council’s message is straightforward: “Never place vapes in your waste for collection, always take them to a vape recycling point.” Kent County Council backs that up with its own guidance, which states residents must not put vapes in their household bin because of the battery inside. The good news is that dropping them off at a household waste recycling centre in Kent costs nothing.
Not everyone will find that easy, though. Taking a used vape to a dedicated drop-off point is a deliberate extra trip rather than tossing it in the bin on the way out the door — and if residents don’t know where their nearest recycling point is, the temptation to bin it anyway is obvious. Critics of these kinds of campaigns argue that low awareness of collection points means the message may not reach the people who need it most.
Recycle Your Electricals advises that if the battery in a vape can be removed, it should be separated before disposal. If it can’t — as is the case with most disposable vapes — the whole device should go to electrical recycling rather than general rubbish.
Key information
- Where to take used vapes in Sevenoaks: Sevenoaks Household Waste Recycling Centre, Main Road, Dunbrik, Sundridge, TN14 6EP
- Opening times: Monday to Saturday, 8am to 4:30pm; Sunday, 9am to 4pm
- Cost: Free of charge at any Kent household waste recycling centre — look for the vapes container on site
- What to do with the battery: Remove it separately if you can; if not, take the whole device to electrical recycling