Transforming e-cigarette batteries into portable chargers

Aug.16.2024

Swiss startup Puffcycling transforms discarded e-cigarette batteries into portable chargers, tackling environmental waste caused by disposable e-cigarettes.

Recently, according to French media Europe 1, a Swiss startup company called Puffcycling is using discarded e-cigarette batteries to create portable power banks.

According to reports, this company was founded by a group of college students who were outraged by the environmental waste caused by disposable e-cigarettes and sought a solution. The batteries in these e-cigarettes actually have good performance, but when the e-cigarettes are discarded, the batteries end up in the trash or even littered in the natural environment. The lithium batteries in disposable e-cigarettes typically only last 3 to 4 days, but their actual lifespan can be 2 to 3 years. Because of this, the college students decided to start Puffcycling, a company dedicated to recycling disposable e-cigarette batteries.

The concept of Puffcycling is to recycle used e-cigarette batteries and turn them into portable power banks for smartphones.

Currently, the company has begun collaborating with some retailers selling disposable e-cigarettes to collect and recycle e-cigarettes. The next stage involves dismantling and recycling plastics, aluminum, cables, and batteries. These batteries, after testing, are installed in specialized casings and repurposed as smartphone batteries. It is understood that Puffcycling has recycled over 5000 e-cigarettes.

These young entrepreneurs have designed the third generation prototype product. If the test results are promising, they will consider bringing it to market.

References:

[1] Des chargeurs portables créés à partir de batteries de cigarettes électroniques jetables

#E-cigarette batteries

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