A clever graduate has used 80 discarded vape batteries to power his e-scooter—and to make a point about waste.

  • Uprise42@artemis.camp
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    1 year ago

    Is there anything we can do with lithium to return it to its unused state? Can it be chemically refined back to its original state or does the electrical usage permanently alter it?

      • antizero99@lemmynsfw.com
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        1 year ago

        You can still break down the vape and take the battery out of it to be recycled. Problem is that people just trash them instead of tossing it with electronics recycling (if that’s even considered cool). Maybe as we see battery recycling we will see people scrounging for these to turn in same as aluminum and glass bottles/cans.

        • NotSteve_@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          The problem is these vapes are usually made really difficult to crack open. A lot of vape stores around me are taking them back now to recycle for you but still.

          • antizero99@lemmynsfw.com
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            1 year ago

            Huh? A hammer will take care of that easy peasy. Good chance someone will figure out a way for a machine to break them open and sort out the battery from the rest or just have people smacking them with hammers or mallets.

      • Uranium3006@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I’ve always preferred reusable batteries. sure you still dispose of the carts but at least you get to use the battery again. I kinda want a dab thing that does on a vape battery so you can scrape wax into it and vape it on the go

      • Uprise42@artemis.camp
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        1 year ago

        Yes, which is wrong. My question was more about lithium batteries in general, not these specific batteries.

        Personally I think we need to hold waste management companies more accountable. I feel like there should be sorting done to some degree to filter out compostable waste, recyclable materials, and true waste. That way we can still have a sustainable planet even when individuals do not have a sustainable mindset

      • Uprise42@artemis.camp
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        1 year ago

        That’s what I was curious about. We have an EV and one of the biggest things is the lithium mining for the batteries being awful for the environment and awful treatment of workers. With EV’s becoming more popular and other types of batteries using lithium then I think lithium recycling is going to be very important to the future and was wondering if anything had been established. Even a close to unused state allowing it to be put back into an EV for 95% capacity is better than just throwing it away.

        I will definitely check out the video though