The vaping industry is causing damage to the environment

The single-use plastic cartridges needed for many kinds of e-cigarettes are unrecyclable, which causes long-term harm to the environment. Like cigarette butts, many of these cartridges wind up as litter instead of the trash can. There is now as much litter from cartridges as there is from cigarette butts even though they haven't been around for as long as cigarettes. Heavy metals are naturally occurring elements containing atomic weight and density at least five times greater than water used in vaping devices. E-cigarettes can leak heavy metals into the environment, marking them as biohazard waste. ^[1] If JUUL pods are discarded irresponsibly, the plastic components can break down into nicotine residues and microplastics and leak into water and soil. The heavy metals within such electronics can find their way into a river or ocean, affecting many animals' ecosystem. Lithium-ion batteries found in e-cigarettes can expand in size and explode if exposed to rain. They are also a fire hazard and have been linked to fires at recycling centers. ^[2] Such excessive waste puts a burden on regulatory agencies on figuring out how to effectively dispose of it. E-cigarette companies should be held accountable for offering services or a facility on how to properly dispose of such waste and make the products environment friendly. ^[3]