N
F
E
R
H
F E AT U R E S
For
the
FUTURE
How a Bournemouth
shop is taking on the
industry’s waste – one
juice bottle at a time
Words: Phoebe Fuller
F
or Cissa Rejo and her team at Paradox Vaping in
Bournemouth, environmental sustainability is a big deal.
But managing a vape shop with this in mind is no easy feat.
Like all industries, the vaping business produces its fair share of
waste, from 10ml plastic bottles and disposable pods, to coils and
even single-use batteries. So Cissa decided to do something about
it and Paradox’s take-back recycling scheme was born. “The global
environmental situation has been very close to our hearts for quite
some time.
“Before the TPD we used to have glass bottles for e-liquid and it was
very uncommon to see plastic bottles inside cardboard boxes.
“But since then it’s just became tons and tons of plastic waste and
now the disposable devices and disposable tanks are a big thing. So
we’re trying to reduce that a little bit which is why we decided to do
the recycling scheme.”
People passing by can drop into the shop to hand over their used
bottles, coils, batteries and even pods in exchange for store discount.
“We try to encourage people to bring their bottles, regardless of
where they came from. We don’t care whether or not you bought the
bottles or your coils in Paradox, just bring whatever you have.”
Once they have enough of each – be that bottles, coils or batteries
– the Paradox team take the items to the correct facility for recycling
or repurposing.
“The pods are quite new, so we haven’t received a lot of them but it’s
72 VM26
just a case of getting a pair of pliers and opening them up and then
separating the plastic from the metal.
“We recycle the coils as part of our recycling scheme as well, so when
we have enough coils, we take them to the scrap yard.”
And the scheme has been a roaring success so far. Paradox receives
around 30 to 50 coils and over 200 bottles every week.
“Some people come back here just for the recycling scheme, because
they get a little bit of a discount and they have tons of bottles tossed
aside in their houses.
“This is a concern for a lot of people, so we hope that other shops
will feel inspired.”
In the meantime, Cissa can rest easy knowing that – in Bournemouth,
at least – vaping is greener.
“This is a concern for a lot of
people, so we hope that other
shops will feel inspired”