Why we can't accept all-in-ones (AIOs) and e-waste
The short version: Purple Bins can no longer accept all-in-one devices (AIOs), batteries, or any electronics. These contain lithium batteries, which are a fire risk and are governed by strict rules we cannot safely meet through a public collection bin. Everything else — your cannabis packaging — is still welcome, and still diverted from landfill.
If you scanned the code on a bin: thank you for caring where your waste goes. Here's the full story.
Why this is actually the bigger problem
Here's what makes electronic vapes different from packaging: AIOs are an "orphaned" product.
Cannabis AIOs fall outside every system built to manage waste responsibly. They aren't covered by Ontario's Blue Box recycling. They aren't captured by electronic waste programs. They aren't addressed by federal cannabis packaging rules. No producer is required to fund their safe collection or disposal.
That means the cost, the risk, and the responsibility have been left to fall on charities like ours, on municipalities, and ultimately on the environment — while the companies that make and sell these devices bear none of it.
We tried to fill that gap. What we learned is that a small non-profit cannot safely or legally shoulder a problem this size on its own. That isn't a reason to look away — it's the clearest possible evidence that the system needs to change.
What changed
For a period, Purple Bins accepted AIO hardware alongside cannabis packaging. We did this because no one else would — electronic vape devices had, and still have, nowhere responsible to go.
But the reality caught up with the good intention. Lithium batteries — the kind inside every AIO — are classified as dangerous goods in Canada. When they're collected loose, in unknown condition, and transported, they become a genuine fire hazard. Battery fires in waste and recycling streams have become a serious, well-documented problem across the country, endangering waste workers, trucks, and facilities.
Our recycling partners, like the broader industry, will no longer accept this material — and we agree with them. Continuing to collect it would mean putting safety second. We're not willing to do that.
What we're doing about it
We've taken this exact issue to Health Canada. We're formally advocating for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for all-in-one vape devices — a requirement that the companies profiting from these products fund their safe collection and end-of-life management, the way producers are already responsible for other packaging in Ontario.
Removing vapes from our bins doesn't mean walking away from the problem. It means being honest about who should actually own it — and pushing to make that happen.
Where to take your vape instead
Please don't put AIOs, batteries, or electronics in a Purple Bin, your Blue Box, or your household garbage. Instead:
Check out Recycle Batteries Canada to find a drop-off location near you!
Ask your cannabis retailer whether they offer a dedicated AIO take-back program.
Never place an AIO or battery in any curb-side bin — it's a fire risk in collection trucks.
What Purple Bins still accept
The Purple Bin program continues, fully focused on what we do best: keeping hard-to-recycle cannabis packaging out of landfill.
We still accept glass, plastic packaging (including the black plastic and multi-layer materials that standard recycling rejects), paper, cardboard, metal closures, and mixed and complex packaging — even with cannabis residue that most recyclers turn away. Since 2024, that work has kept 39+ tonnes of packaging out of landfill across 1,000+ retail locations.
Thank you for returning your packaging, and for caring enough to read this far. That's how change starts.