The ELFBAR corrugated paper vape. Credit: ELFBAR.

As governments around the world introduce regulations on the packaging of vape products, vaping technology company ELFBAR is focusing on recyclability.

The Hong Kong-based company’s concept of a single-use vape within a corrugated paper structure, called R3, has won the product design prize at the International Forum (iF) Design Awards 2024, to be held in Berlin, Germany.

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R3 vape prototype users can remove the corrugated paper shell by tearing along the dotted line.

Used batteries in the discarded products can also be properly disposed of and recycled after the paper shell is removed.

By enabling the prototype to be dismantled manually, the recycling of its lithium battery, shell casing, airflow sensor, battery housing, mouthpiece and nicotine filter lifts the total recycling rate of this single-use product to 85%.

ELFBAR has been working with partners to put in place recycling points in retail outlets worldwide and drive public awareness of responsible vape disposal under the GreenAwareness recycling programme.

As of 1 April 2024, ELFBAR and its partners have provided 160 retail stores with end-to-end collection, transportation and processing of discarded vapes and installed recycling bins in 1,000 stores across the UK.

More than 200,000 pieces of discarded vapes weighing 5,611 kilograms have been collected, dismantled and processed responsibly in the UK, according to ELFBAR.

GreenAwareness was initiated by ELFBAR on a trial basis in April 2023. Through this programme, the company joins professional lithium battery recycling service providers to collect discarded vapes from retailers and transport them to an authorised approved treatment facility where the devices are fully disassembled into components for a recycling procedure.