Comment by rglullis 14 hours ago
Between (a) component that costs tens of cents to mass produce and can be bought off the shelf and is reusable vs (b) component that needs actual experienced electronics engineers working on a single-use design that can not be repurposed later, I think we'd see that (a) might end up being less wasteful.
It's not so much that 99% go to the landfill, but this product does. Other products that use the same parts might be more reusable.
The point is that, most likely, the controller existed before this vape. Buying an off the shelf part can be cheaper than trying to bring up some custom part, both in cost and possibly in overall resources.
> Why not just sell a reusable vape that can be filled with the extract you want?
That's where the vapes started, and they still sell them.
I have a battery holder that's really just some control circuitry and a spot to shove an 18650. On that goes the tank which holds liquid and is refillable. Inside of that goes the "coil" which is the wick and heating element.
Daily I add a bit more fluid. Every 2-4 weeks I replace the coil. Every 1-2 years I replace the battery holder and tank. The 18650s I swap between to power it are 6-8 years old and still going.
(I'd replace the battery holder and tank less frequently, but I just can't find any that will last much longer than that banging around in my pocket and suffering the occasional drop or fall. All-in-all though, I've minimized the waste about as much as I reasonably can without quitting entirely.)
Somewhere in between and closer to what people are buying as "disposable" you can get refillable pods like my wife has. The "base" has a built-in battery and the circuitry. The tank and coil are a single unit. You add fluid and keep refilling until the wick/coil are gummed up, then toss the entire tank and coil... but keep the same battery/electronics.
Really, it's almost the exact same thing as these disposable units just with _very minimal_ changes to make them reusable.
Which is why I think these disposable units are extra heinous. There's just no reason for them to exist at all.
if this is a serious question:
it's because politicians bend to pressure from lobbyists and outcry, such that the very idea that a resuable vape means that children can vape pina colada flavored liquids.
There was a federal push during Trump v1 to only allow iqos devices in any stores. The two vape brands (maybe 3) allowed in general in my state are manufactured by... if you guessed RJR and PMI, you are correct. The big tobacco farmers and cig manufacturers.
Reusable vapes with custom or pre-mixed flavors were attacked hard. I still have a couple liters of 100mg/ml nicotine in my freezer, for making custom flavors at home. I don't even know if you can still order nicotine in that ratio anymore in the US.
A combination of:
- humans are expensive.
- If you want a custom part, you will need specialized equipment to build that part.
- If you want a custom part, you will maybe need to transport that part all around the world, while the off-the-shelf components might already be available close to your assembly plant.
> can not be repurposed later
whether it can be repurposed is worth little in being wasteful if >99% go to the landfill.
> I think we'd see that (a) might end up being less wasteful.
Monetarily? sure. Environmentally? unlikely