Our story
Built in Omaha, by someone who got tired of seeing dead vapes everywhere.
In 2023, Nebraska entrepreneur Michael Duckworth kept noticing the same thing all over town: disposable vapes in parking lots, gutters, junk drawers, and trash cans — each one carrying a lithium-ion battery and nicotine residue that was never designed to be thrown away.
Nobody was coming to pick them up. Curbside recycling won't take them, the post office won't ship them, and most people have no idea a vape is hazardous waste at all. So he started Recycle Vapes Omaha — a service of Positive Energy Environmental Solutions LLC — to close that gap the practical way: drive to the curb, collect the devices, and handle the regulated part so nobody else has to.
We're a small local team with an outsized goal: help divert one billion vapes from landfills by 2033. Against a country throwing away nearly half a million disposables a day, every route we run is a rounding error — and that's exactly how change starts. One vape at a time.
“We'll say it plainly: the fastest way to end vape waste is to quit. If you're thinking about quitting, we're rooting for you. And for every vape already out there — in your drawer, behind your counter, in your parking lot — we'll make sure it never ends up in a landfill or a trash-truck fire.”
How we operate
Documented, not just done
Every kit we collect is logged, tracked, and handled under EPA universal waste and hazardous waste generator rules. Want the paperwork? Ask — showing our work is the whole point.
Trained for the hazardous part
Our team completes DOT hazardous materials training (49 CFR 172.704) and OSHA hazard-communication training, because moving lithium batteries and nicotine waste safely is a skill, not a vibe.
Local to the core
We're an Omaha company serving Omaha routes — and every device we collect sets aside 10¢ for a local cause our customers vote on each quarter.
Where your vapes actually go
The most important question you can ask any recycler is “then what?” Here's our answer: every pickup is sealed in a dedicated collection container, logged, and consolidated for transport under DOT shipping rules for lithium batteries.
From there, materials are separated — lithium-ion cells, circuit boards, plastics, and nicotine-containing components — and routed to permitted downstream processors: batteries toward materials recovery, regulated components toward compliant destruction, everything documented along the way.
We'd rather show you than tell you. If you want the documentation trail for your pickup, just ask.
Sealed & logged
Your devices go into a dedicated container the moment we collect them.
Transported under DOT rules
Lithium batteries move by ground, packaged and marked the way regulations require.
Separated & processed
Batteries, boards, plastics, and nicotine components each go down their own compliant path.
Documented
Chain-of-custody records exist for every step — available on request.
Be part of the billion.
Every pickup counts toward the goal. Book yours in about two minutes.