Welsh retailer Trudy Davies of Woosnam & Davies News in Llanidloes has become the first retailer to set up a 24/7 vape recycling box.
The concept, which Trudy developed with help from distributor Vape Supplier, features a delivery slot for disposable vapes and bright green signage explaining to consumers that used vapes left in the box will be disposed of responsibly. Trudy bought the metal postbox from Screwfix for £25 and Vape Supplier provided her with the signage.
She also has a lidded plastic bucket in-store from vape recycling firm VapeCycle, where customers can dispose of vapes whilst shopping.
“I have the recycling point in the store which was working but I realised that not everyone was going to come in to recycle their vapes,” Trudy told Convenience Store. There are also lots of pubs on our road and people would be leaving and vaping at night when we’re closed so we needed a 24/7 solution. I spoke to Vape Supplier and they helped us create this.”
“I’m very much about trying something and seeing if it will work. I can’t make people recycle their vapes, but I can make it as easy as possible for them to do it.”
“Being a responsible retailer is more than selling the products in the correct way, there’s an obligation to ensure they’re disposed of properly as well, especially if they could be damaging to the environment. We all have a responsibility to do something to protect the environment, even if it’s something small.”
Jane Buxton, head of operations at Vape Supplier said: “Trudy is a very proactive retailer. We have a good relationship with her, and when she asked if we could help her out with a bespoke solution for her store, we were happy to support her.”
Trudy first trialled the concept of vape recycling last September.
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