According to news on March 14, according to the British "Financial Times" news briefing podcast program talked about the recent fire of disposable electronic cigarettes, two Financial Times reporters not only talked about the possible health problems of electronic cigarettes, but also talked about the possible health problems caused by electronic cigarettes. coming environmental issues. The following is the full text of the conversation:

The use of e-cigarettes has increased dramatically over the past decade. But vaping devices that use the replaceable cartridges made famous by companies like Juul have given way to disposable e-cigarettes. They're especially popular among young people, and they add not only to health problems, but also to environmental impacts. Oliver Barnes of the Financial Times joins me (Joanna Kao) to discuss this.

Joanna Kao: Hi, Oliver.

Oliver: Hey, thanks for having me.

Joanna Kao: So before we talk about the environmental impact, can you remind us why sales of these disposable vaping devices are taking off?

Oliver: So I think a lot of our listeners will remember the Juul boom that happened in the US a few years ago. Those are what you call reload-based e-cigarettes. The popularity of these e-cigarettes has plummeted due to regulation by the FDA and President Trump, replaced by a new wave of disposable e-cigarettes that basically take 500 puffs and you’re done. They come in a variety of different flavors, and there are plenty of brands worthy of the name. They've exploded in popularity over the past few years, with 610 million sold worldwide last year, according to some calculations we've done with a number of research institutes.

Joanna Kao: Who is behind these disposable vaping devices?

Oliver: So, Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers have really caught on to this emerging trend. Success stories in this space are the Elf Bar and Lost Mary brands, which are run by Shenzhen-based Heaven Gifts (a subsidiary of Love Miracle). Those two products alone brought in $1.8 billion in revenue for the company last year. Surprisingly, it's not big tobacco companies like British American Tobacco and Philip Morris that are making money from it.

Joanna Kao: So let's go back to your key finding, which is the environmental concerns of these disposable e-cigarettes. What is the problem?

Oliver: For the new generation, part of that convenience is also part of what makes them so disruptive, right? Each contains approximately 0.15 grams of lithium. Lithium acts like an atomizer that vaporizes the actual e-liquid and makes the experience better, these companies will argue for vapers and make the e-cigarette run smoother. This is a more powerful battery. Unfortunately, when you add that to the 610 million disposables sold globally last year, that 0.15 gram does add weight. Lithium is a critical raw material as defined by the US and the EU. Policy officials worry that it will be in short supply in the next few years. So the full value of lithium in 610 million e-cigarettes adds up to over 10 when we factor in the addition of EV manufacturing.

Joanna Kao: Can these e-cigarettes be recycled?

Oliver: That's the most ridiculous thing about the whole thing, is these batteries, if they have charge capacity, they can charge 600 times, they don't have charge capacity. There are schemes in the UK and EU where distributors, importers and retailers have various obligations to fund the takeback of these products. Some large companies have signed up, but the vast majority (over 90%) of the 150 companies we surveyed in the UK have not signed up. So people aren't trying to push for recycling of this stuff. But on the other hand, they are also broken down so cleverly that some recycling groups in the UK say that the actual cost of recycling the product currently exceeds the money they make from recycling it.

Joanna Kao: Thank you, Oliver.

Oliver: Thank you.