Vaping company RLX Technology is to turn used pods into cement

YANJI, China, Sept. 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --  RLX Technology (NYSE:RLX) announced its Pods Recycling project to invest 20 million yuan to recycle used e-liquid pods in China and make them into cement in its recent event held on 2nd September.

RLX, maker of RELX-branded vaporizers and e-liquid pods that it only sells in China, together with China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, will donate the cement to China's rural areas to build infrastructure such as road and bridges.

The Pods Recycling project will officially launch in September starting from Beijing and gradually cover 10 Chinese cities by next February. It aims to cover all RELX-branded stores in China by the end of 2022. RLX will collect not only its own used pods, but of all various brands.

As vaping gains in popularity, how to deal with the used pods has become a major concern for not only companies but users.

There are existing ways to process the used pods at present, such as burning or burying as regular trash. But, according to Guo Guangdong, Head of Public Relations and External Affairs of RLX, those measures cannot solve the problem from the root as they cause secondary environmental harm and produce no further economic value.

"Our goal was clear at the very first when we started the project, we wanted a solution that can efficiently recycle the materials and create more value," he said. 

During the research, RLX found that although cement is mainly made of limestone and clay, metal and other solid wastes also play an indispensable role in cement producing to optimize its functionality for various usages. The materials of disposal pods can perfectly meet the requirement of cement.

While the disposal pods can be fully recycled and re-used after mixing into the raw materials of cement, the procedure largely reduces the amount of ash and furnace slag than conventional ways to process the pods.

Reusing the disposal pods is only the first step for RLX. How to fulfil the company's social responsibility with the cement is the second question RLX faces.

As one of the most essential materials for infrastructure, cement is key to rural economy. Thus, RLX plans to donate the cement with China Siyuan Foundation for Poverty Alleviation to Chinese countryside to build roads, bridges, and clean lavatory to improve the life of the rural residentials.

"Working with our users, it is one of the crucial ways for us to fulfil our corporate social responsibility with our own industrial characteristic," said Kate Wang, CEO and founder of RLX.

From this September, users can receive a special recycling bag in RELX-branded stores in China to collect the pods and send back to the recycling bins placed in the stores. RLX will also accept pods of various brands.

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SOURCE RLX Technology