Recycling Disposable Vapes

Sammie Veeler

hi its me sammie

A cluttered assortment of multicolored e-cigarette devices and electronics, with some text labels and circuit boards, placed on top of a white background and solar panels.

I, like many other trans women in my community, am addicted to disposable vapes, specifically this Elf Bar. I know this is e waste, so I hoard my empty vapes in a plastic bag. There are dozens now. I took one apart and found that these are LI-PO batteries.

The Solar Protocol in fact was one of the projects that inspired me to take this class.

What do I need?

  • Raspberry Pis run on 5v power. These batteries are 3.4v and 600maH, which means I would need to create a battery pack by wiring groups of batteries in series, then step the voltage down when it enters the Pi with a buck regulator.

  • I read that a Pi needs about 16,000mah to run for 24 hours, and I think I have about as many batteries as I would need to make that happen.

  • Solar panel + battery controller still unclear