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The attractive Endura S1 is available in a variety of pastel shades. Photo credit: Innokin Technology Ltd.
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Starter kit with Endura S1 and 10ml Podbar Salts refill bottle (here: Blue Sour Raspberry flavor with 20mg/ml nicotine). Photo credit: Innokin Technology Ltd.
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Flonq Plus E’s battery unit can be removed for appropriate recycling. Photo credit: Alfabet Labs/Flonq
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Robert Harvey, head of sales UK for Flonq. Photo credit: Alfabet Labs/Flonq
Some companies are starting to roll out refillable and recyclable vaping devices, a practice that is hoped to catch on in the industry on a wider scale.
Depending on the source consulted, it is estimated that currently more than 80% of all vaping devices sold globally are of the closed-system, disposable kind. Though designed for consumer convenience (“use and discard”), disposables are nevertheless tagging along with environmental concerns, not to mention that they also waste precious resources.
“Although pre-filled disposable devices have been a huge success in terms of harm reduction, their short life cycle is generating more waste than necessary,” confirmed Benedict Jones, UK branding manager for leading Chinese vape manufacturer, Innokin Technology Limited. He added that the firm’s market research indicated that consumers enjoyed the ease of use of disposables “within minutes of purchase and without any technical knowledge of vaping.”
Innokin rolls out refillable “Endura S1”
But unlike many manufacturers who ride the “single-use vape train,” Innokin always regarded refillable devices as its core products.
“We are firm believers that permanent, refillable vaping devices offer the best balance of value, vaping performance, and satisfaction,” Jones said. In an effort to marry the convenience of disposables with the economy and better environmental footprint offered by refillables, Innokin recently launched the Endura S1. According to Jones, it is the company’s simplest refillable device ever, with an easy filling design, automatic draw, and advanced wicking that rapidly soaks the coil with e-liquid after the first fill.
Endura S1 offers the low price point and consumer satisfaction typical of a disposable device while simultaneously providing a significantly extended life cycle, thereby reducing waste. According to Jones, “many customers are starting to realize that disposable vapes are actually the most expensive way to vape in the long term.” This, he said, made Endura S1 a logical next step especially for new vapers. “Endura S1 is designed to be re-filled at least 10 times and comes bundled with a 10ml supply of e-liquid for 5 refills that give the user approximately 3,500 puffs in total.” The Endura S1 has been available in regular retail since June 2023 in the UK and elsewhere.
Disposables still have a legitimate place
Despite Innokin’s focus on reusables, the company nevertheless also offers plenty of disposable models in its portfolio. It is unavoidable and comes with the market terrain.
“Disposables [still] have a legitimate place in the next-generation nicotine toolkit, so we will continue offering [them] for as long as this is allowed,” Jones said. However, he also insisted that Innokin actively encouraged its customers to transition to refillable devices wherever possible. “It generates less waste, costs less money over time, and delivers the best technology our engineers have developed.”
A valuable nudge into the right direction
Emphasizing refillability certainly is one of the ways to eventually guide the industry away from consumer-dictated disposables and towards wholesomely sustainable products. But recyclability is another cornerstone of that drive. Considering the negative environmental impact of disposables, a refillable device that at the same time also is fully recyclable, could be a winning formula. “Like other refillable pods or pod mods, the Endura S1 has a metallic chassis, Li-ion battery, cotton and PCTG tank shell and it can be disassembled for recycling,” claimed Jones. However, the devil is in the details. Use brute force and you can “disassemble” pretty much anything.
Fact is that while Endura S1 was specifically designed to be refillable, it was not explicitly designed as a recyclable device per se. But that doesn’t diminish its role in giving the industry a valuable nudge into the right direction.
Product bundling to promote better transition
While Jones pointed out that Endura S1 was helping vapers switch from disposables directly to refillables, he also admitted that actual conversion rates are generally very low. The convenience of “buy-vape-discard” remains enormously attractive to most users. To better promote a transition to refillables, Innokin recently partnered with the UK’s leading e-liquid manufacturer, Kingston, which resulted in the rollout of the “Endura S1 starter kit”.
The kit bundles an Endura S1 device with a 10ml bottle of Kingston’s Podbar Salts branded e-liquid. “We really believe in this marketing model, primarily because of the channels in which most pre-filled disposables are sold,” said Jones. Convenience stores and supermarkets were popular points of sale for disposable devices, and since these were non-specialist retailers, it wasn’t realistic to expect their staff to have a thorough understanding of vaping products, he explained, “Therefore, any vaping product sold in these channels needs to be self-explanatory and require no additional purchases.”
Flonq: “The world’s first fully recyclable device”
Although certain components of the Endura S1 are recyclable, its focus clearly lies on refillability and extended life cycle rather than practical recyclability. But there is UK vape brand Flonq, whose latest vape pen model, the Flonq Plus E, recently was hailed in press headlines as “the world’s first fully recyclable vaping device”.
“We do have devices [in our portfolio] that are not refillable or recyclable, but the Flonq Plus E is indeed fully recyclable,” confirmed the brand’s head of sales UK, Rob Harvey. “As a responsible company, Flonq is now focused on creating more sustainable products,” he added. As such, Flonq Plus E’s development is the direct result of the company’s recognition of the significant environmental concern associated with single-use disposable vaping products. “It was a straightforward decision for us to begin contemplating and designing products that not only boast exceptional aesthetics and performance but also incorporate a sustainability aspect,” Harvey told Tobacco Asia.
Purpose-engineered to be recyclable
Of course, the key to sustainability in this case is the point that Flonq Plus E was purpose-engineered from scratch to be easily disassembled. However, Flonq Plus E still remains a single-use disposable; i.e. is not reusable. But, according to Harvey, the company already has more products in the pipeline that are going to be both refillable and recyclable. And that, we presume, could be the ultimate solution to finally stem the waste tide created by non-recyclable disposables. Flonq Plus E was initially rolled out in the UK market only, but the company is planning to also expand to the EU by partnering with local distributors.
Though supposedly the original “world’s first fully recyclable vape device,” the Flonq Plus E is no longer alone in that particular category. Other brands have in the meantime released recyclable vape models, too. But amazingly, they still remain far and between. Harvey re-counted that during a recent vape industry exhibition he took the opportunity to observe competing products. “Interestingly, I found that not many brands had followed our lead in offering recyclables,” he said. “However, we anticipate that this will change once the Plus E gains more traction in the markets.” Yet… a quick internet browsing of the plethora of currently available vaping brands revealed that most manufacturers claim their devices to be recyclable. But that really has to be taken with a pinch of skepticism.