Lemmy
Dear Lemmy: Neither is great for the environment, but at least one can be recycled. Although the rare vape shop or dispensary does offer a recycle bin for empty vape cartridges and disposable vapes, recycling a plastic bottle is much easier. (Whether that plastic is actually recycled at the end of the day is another story, but at least you tried.) Vapes have a significantly lower recycling rate, and the resources required to recycle their materials are greater. When you factor in the rising popularity of disposable vapes and the lithium batteries involved, things get really scary.
According to the CDC Foundation, a nonprofit created by Congress to support the Centers for Disease Control, about 4.5 disposable nicotine vapes are thrown out every second in the United States, and that's not even counting THC vapes, which are made with the same materials aren't federally regulated. There is no standard for recycling these products, either, so most of them end up in the landfill.
Cannabis flower containers aren't that much better, if we're being honest. Most dispensary shoppers probably aren't vigilantly recycling their plastic containers, and almost all of these branded, pre-packed containers from growers are a mixture of glass and plastic that aren't accepted by public recycling bins. (But you can reuse old dispensary jars for yourself.)
Wouldn't it be great if we could go into dispensaries with our own glass jars or vape carts and fill them up with buds and oil, like when you get refills at a gas station soda fountain? A stoner can dream...
Colorado Cannabis Waste and Environment Issues
Waste that comes with commercial pot production and extraction includes spent organic solvents and refining chemicals, used reactants, compressed gases or aerosols, bulk or residual fertilizers, cleaning solutions and universal wastes such as mercury-containing lighting, ballasts and batteries, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment.The CDPHE has done a handful of energy and waste audits on licensed cannabis production since 2018, which have led to new recycling and waste removal programs for cannabis businesses. The Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division continues holding sustainability work group meetings with the public to look for more environmentally-sound business practices, as well.
The cannabis industry's water and electricity usage has also been subject to scrutiny by environmental studies in past years. In 2021, a study from Colorado State University revealed that 1.3 percent of the state's total annual emissions came from the cannabis industry, with greenhouse gases largely produced by indoor cultivations that depend on HVAC systems, artificial grow lights and CO2 used as a fertilizer to increase plant yield.
The Colorado Energy Office has since launched a handful of initiatives at reducing cannabis energy needs in recent years, including a program that provides licensed growers with free technical resources, renewable-energy assessments and financing for equipment and facility upgrades. In the face of an industry recession, over one-third of cannabis cultivations in Colorado have shut down since 2023, according to state licensing data, further lessening pot's environmental impact.
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