In this guest article, Rowan Barnes, Senior Project Coordinator Material Focus, shares progress on the ongoing campaign to tackle the environmental impact of vapes at UK music festivals. Despite the ban on single-use vapes over 8 million vapes a week are still being binned incorrectly leading landfill and a loss of the valuable material they embody as well as real risks of fire and contamination due to the lithium batteries they contain. Read about the latest work with some of the UK’s biggest festivals (including Reading and Leeds, Download, Creamfields, Boomtown, Truck and Love Saves the Day) and learn how to get involved in 2026.
“This summer, some of the biggest UK music festivals collaborated with Material Focus to help tackle the ongoing “vapocalypse” and encourage festival-goers to recycle their vapes. This saw vape recycling points and information provided at some of the biggest festivals in the UK including Reading and Leeds, Download, and Creamfields Festivals. Building on the success of this year’s initiative, Material Focus is calling for other festivals to join the vape recycling campaign in 2026.
Vape Recycling Campaign in 2025
Across the summer, 81 pink vape recycling tubes were installed at festival sites and campsites, at Boomtown, Truck, Love Saves the Day, Rockstar presents Wireless, Klarna presents Latitude, Rockstar Energy presents Reading and Leeds, British Summer Time in Hyde Park, Download, Rockstar Energy Presents Creamfields. Festival-goers were made aware of how and where they could recycle their vapes and other electricals through ear-and-eye-catching campaign with videos on stage screens throughout the festivals. Recycle Your Electricals’ mascot ‘HypnoCat’ is on a mission to hypnotise the UK into reusing and recycling their old electricals.
The extent of the problem with vapes
The partnership was set up to address the ongoing issue with vapes in the UK. Despite the ban on single-use vapes on 1st June, 8 million vapes a week are still being binned incorrectly. New rechargeable vape models are flooding the market, and have a similar look, feel, and price point to their single-use predecessors, likely leading to similar disposal behaviours by vapers. According to research by Material Focus, 1.2 billion disposable style vapes have been bought nationwide since 2022, with at least three-quarters improperly binned or littered.
Vapes that are thrown away are also a serious fire risk, as the lithium batteries inside vapes can get crushed or damaged in bin lorries or waste centres, leading to serious and dangerous fires. Vapes, like all electricals, contain valuable materials that can be recycled. But a significant number of vapers are still unaware of how and where to recycle them, with over 75% wanting more information.
Join the 2026 Festival Campaign
Material Focus is now calling for other festivals to join the vape recycling campaign in 2026. Festival and event teams can access a detailed guide on how to implement their own recycling scheme, including information on funding opportunities, communications, and setting up recycling points. To learn more, contact the Material Focus team at rowan@materialfocus.org.uk or download the vapes recycling toolkit for festivals and events here:
This article originally appeared in our October 2025 Vision for Sustainable Events newsletter. Sign up to receive monthly event sustainability news, case studies and guest blogs direct to your inbox.