Over the past two years, the momentum of e-cigarette exports has been strong. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China, from January to December 2023, the total export value of e-cigarette products reached $11.084 billion (approximately 80 billion yuan), a 12.50% increase compared to the $9.854 billion export value in 2022.
Amid the wave of Chinese e-cigarette manufacturers going global, markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Russia have become highly competitive red oceans. Intense competition has driven industry upgrades, and one of the most focused development trends in the e-cigarette industry in 2024 is the environmental issue related to e-cigarettes. As disposable consumer goods, the explosion of disposable e-cigarettes has indeed caused some environmental pollution, such as generating a large amount of plastic waste, discarded lithium batteries, and circuit boards. The residual e-liquid is even considered hazardous chemical waste. In the European market, environmental issues have become a significant factor restricting the development of the disposable e-cigarette industry. Government departments and consumers have gradually realized the damage e-cigarettes cause to the environment.
Therefore, for e-cigarette brands, on the one hand, promoting the recycling service of discarded e-cigarettes, and on the other hand, advancing the design and production of environmentally friendly e-cigarettes, may be more in line with the current trend of the European market. Currently, many domestic manufacturers, such as SMORE and ZOER, already have environmentally friendly e-cigarette solutions. It is expected that in 2024, as the controversy over the environmental issues of e-cigarettes among government departments and consumers in the European region becomes increasingly significant, more manufacturers will follow suit.
The main solutions for environmental protection in e-cigarettes focus on materials and structural design:
- Material Perspective: Changing the materials used in e-cigarettes, such as using degradable plastics (PLA, PBAT, etc.), recycled plastics, and paper tubes.
- Design Perspective: Modular design, which is both for easy disassembly for recycling and for improving production efficiency, as modular design allows for rapid assembly on automated lines.
Solution 1: Application of Various Degradable Materials in E-cigarettes
- Degradable Material for E-cigarette Casings: Examples include PLA and paper tubes. Riot Labs announced a low-carbon disposable e-cigarette, QBAR, with a casing made from PLA plastic derived from corn starch in January 2022. ZOER launched globally a biodegradable e-cigarette product in 2023, using innovative biodegradable raw materials such as PBS for plastic parts.
- Biodegradable E-cigarette Oil-absorbing Cotton Materials: Traditionally, e-cigarette oil-absorbing cotton was made from non-woven fabric or integrated cotton, mostly PP fiber or PET fiber materials, which are not degradable and harmful to the natural ecosystem. The market now has PLA fiber as an e-cigarette oil-absorbing cotton material, a breakthrough and innovation in the application of biodegradable materials.
Solution 2: Use of Recyclable Materials in E-cigarettes Recyclable materials such as TPU (TPE) are used, which are recyclable materials. TPU, or thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer, is an elastomer that can be melted by heating and dissolved by solvents, with high strength, toughness, wear resistance, oil resistance, and excellent comprehensive performance.
Solution 3: Modular Design of E-cigarette Products For example, the traditional disposable e-cigarette composition includes a mouthpiece, atomization core, oil-absorbing cotton, solution board, battery, and casing. After modular design, the disposable e-cigarette is composed of an electronic drive (solution board + battery), oil reservoir (atomization core + oil-absorbing cotton), and casing. The modular design significantly facilitates recycling.