On April 23, 2024, ELFBAR’s product structure made of corrugated paper won the 2024 iF Design Award (International Forum Design Award 2024), which shows the brand’s phased results in fulfilling its long-term commitment to maximum recyclability.

ELFBAR headquarters has increased investment in research and development in recent years to simplify the process of recycling, dismantling and reusing disposable electronic atomization products. Another concept product of ELFBAR, the R3, has a bottom battery that can be disassembled by the user, and its total recycling rate has been increased to 85%. In addition, the GreenAwareness global recycling project is also progressing in an orderly manner, and more than 200,000 disposable electronic atomization products have been recycled and dismantled so far.

The ingenious design of corrugated paper makes it easy to disassemble and recycle

According to the relevant person in charge of the ELFBAR Industrial Design Department, the material design inspiration of corrugated paper comes from the application of this material in architecture and furniture. With its corrugated appearance and removable battery compartment structure, the design of this electronic atomization product won the 2024 iF Design Award.

“Corrugated paper is a common material for paper packaging boxes. It is lighter than wood and has hardness, making it easy to cut. At the same time, corrugated paper can be printed with patterns and text in different colors on the outside, further increasing its environmental friendliness,” the the person in charge said.

This product makes the most of the environmentally friendly and low-cost advantages of corrugated paper, and reduces carbon emissions during the production process through simple cutting and gluing processes. At the same time, the product’s built-in waterproof layer solves the pain points of corrugated paper being susceptible to mildew and moisture.

The ease of disassembly of corrugated paper allows users to peel off the battery compartment, so that the outer casing and internal cavity can be separated and replaced. It is not only flexible, but also facilitates the recycling of materials, allowing electronic atomization products to be peeled off like wrapping paper and finally added to the social recycling system.

In addition, ELFBAR headquarters has been promoting a number of R&D and tests such as manual disassembly of batteries, biodegradable materials, PCR recycled materials (Post-Consumer Recycled material), packaging plastic removal, and the use of recycled packaging paper to further compress product raw materials and production carbon emissions in the process.

R3 rotary disassembly battery, new industry trend

ELFBAR’s latest R3 concept product is another achievement of research and development in the field of environmental protection. The button at the bottom of the product and the rotating design allow the internal structures such as the battery compartment to be easily pushed out and manually disassembled, greatly improving the efficiency of disposable electronic atomization products in the entire recycling chain.

The product can be manually dismantled by the user into five parts – lithium battery, product casing, air flow sensor, battery casing, nozzle and filter. The total recycling rate of the product is increased to 85%.

GreenAwareness global recycling project is progressing in an orderly manner

ELFBAR has always adhered to the concepts of environmental friendliness and sustainable development, and has taken the lead in the industry in deploying various categories of recycling businesses.

In April 2023, ELFBAR launched GreenAwareness, a recycling program for disposable vaping products in the UK, and cooperated with local recycling service providers to collect, dismantle and recycle products. And conduct research on the reuse of recycled components. At present, major breakthroughs have been made in the reuse of recycled lithium batteries.

As of April 1, 2024, ELFBAR has set up disposable vape recycling bins in more than 1,000 retail outlets in the UK, recycling nearly 200,000 electronic atomization products with a total weight of more than 5.6 tons. The brands participating in the GreenAwareness project will also expand from ELFBAR to LOST MARY, and plan to set up recycling points in more than 4,000 retail terminals around the world in 2024.

In the future, ELFBAR will realize a complete “recycling closed loop” of collection, transportation, dismantling and reuse of disposable electronic atomization products. At the same time, ELFBAR is also implementing product recycling programs in multiple global markets, and more markets, brands, electronic atomization product categories and accessories will also join the GreenAwareness recycling system.