The California State Legislature approved legislation this week that would ban disposable nicotine vapes in California.ĚýAssembly Bill 762Ěýwas approved by the State Senate Tuesday by 30-10 and by the State Assembly Wednesday by 47-16. It now heads to the governor’s desk for signature.
Vapes are small, battery-powered devices that heat a liquid substance, like nicotine, for the user to inhale. Disposable vapes can only be used a handful of times before becoming obsolete.ĚýEach day, Americans throw away almost 500,000 disposable vapes —Ěý5.7 every second.ĚýĚýThey often end up in the trash or on the ground, littering streets and beaches and leaching toxic chemicals into waterways. If they reach waste facilities, they also pose a fire hazard.
Vape manufacturing uses extremely valuable materials such as copper wire and lithium that not only require environmentally destructive mining operations to extract, but could instead be used for longer lasting and more socially beneficial devices, such as electric car batteries.
The bill author and coalition of organizations sponsoring the legislation made the following statements: “It is against common sense to pollute our land and water for an electronic product that is used just a few times, serves no beneficial purpose, and creates hazardous waste,” saidĚýJenn Engstrom, state director of CALPIRG. “We’re hopeful California will continue to be a leader in waste reduction by prohibiting this unnecessary and harmful product.”
“We are hopeful the governor will recognize the threat these devices pose to our communities and that the costs of cleaning up the mess these devices leave are borne by ratepayers,” saidĚýAssemblymember Jacqui IrwinĚý(Thousand Oaks).
“We don’t let other industries design products with embedded fire hazards and walk away when they fail. Vape companies shouldn’t get a pass either,”ĚýsaidĚýTony Hackett, a policy associate at Californians Against 91TV. “AB 762 is simple: if you’re going to sell it in California, you have to design it so it doesn’t explode in someone’s hands—or in a recycling truck.”
“Disposable vapes contain lithium-ion batteries which can’t be removed. If struck or crushed they cause catastrophic fires in garbage trucks and sorting facilities. These costs get passed on to ratepayers,” saidJoe La Mariana, Rethink91TV executive director.Ěý“We have a fiduciary responsibility to maintain the integrity of these assets. But also, on a human level, we have a very high responsibility for the safety of our colleagues and our co-workers.
“The best way to protect our communities from problematic products, like single use vapes, is to prevent them from becoming a hard-to-manage waste stream,” saidĚýJoanne Brasch,Ěýassistant director, California Product Stewardship Council