Inside every disposable vape is precious metal tossed away in tonnes

Walk down any busy street, and you're bound to find dozens of candy-coloured plastic cylinders littering the ground

- Emma Snaith

Millions of these disposable vapes are thrown away every month in the UK. And hidden W inside each one is a lithium battery - made of a material crucial for the transition to renewables.

I try not to make a habit of vaping, but it's far too easy to pick one up when they're eyecatchingly displayed right next to the chewing gum in every corner shop. For weeks after my impulse purchase, the vape lay next to my bin. I knew I had to recycle it, but how do you actually go about doing that? I soon found myself falling down a blueberry smoke-filled rabbit hole.

There was no clue on the packaging of the vape about how to properly dispose of it. A tiny white symbol of a crossed-out bin is the only indication that the device shouldn't be placed with the rest of your rubbish. So perhaps it's not surprising that more than half of disposable vapes bought in the UK are simply thrown away, according to research by the recycling non-profit Material Focus.