Waste handlers propose incinerating disposable e-cigarettes
In Estonia, waste management companies suggest incinerating disposable e-cigarettes instead of sending them abroad for processing, but the Ministry of Climate opposes the idea due to the value of the batteries.
Waste handlers in Estonia argue that the current system for processing disposable e-cigarettes is inefficient and propose incineration as a better alternative. The Ministry of Climate, however, does not support this approach.
Last year, waste handler Eesti Elektroonikaromu collected 6.3 tons of used e-cigarettes. This represents only about 1.5% of all e-cigarettes that end up in Estonia's household waste annually, even though they should not be disposed of with regular trash.
To prevent improper disposal, collection boxes are available in public spaces and in some stores. Diane Sirelpuu, CEO of Nicorex Baltic, said the company has placed collection boxes in all Veipland stores and with partners including fuel station chains Terminal and Alexela, as well as alcohol retailers Superalko and Cityalko.
Sirelpuu noted that more than half of the e-cigarette waste mass comes from illegal products, meaning part of the market operates without producer responsibility or proper waste management funding, leaving some costs to society.
All collected waste is sent to a processing partner in Lithuania. Kaur Kuurme, board member of Eesti Elektroonikaromu, explained that disposable e-cigarettes are difficult to process because the battery is hard to remove. It often requires manual work, such as breaking the device with a hammer, and cannot be put into a shredder due to the fire risk from battery sparks.
Kuurme called the process expensive and inefficient, proposing that disposable e-cigarettes could be recycled through incineration instead.
Piret Otsason, head of producer responsibility and hazardous waste at the Ministry of Climate, said the handling of batteries is governed by uniform EU requirements and Europe has the capacity to process them. She emphasized that batteries should not be burned because they contain valuable materials like lithium and other metals, which are critical and limited in availability. The goal is to return these materials to circulation.
Kuurme countered that the amount of recoverable material in e-cigarettes is minimal and has little practical value. He cited Central Europe, where processors do not want the batteries after separation and they end up being incinerated anyway.
