Mitchell Colbert’s research expands the cannabis safety conversation beyond what happens during cultivation, manufacturing, and consumption to what happens after a product is discarded. Cannabis waste in regulations and in case studies has primarily focused on cultivation waste or debris from illicit grows. In 2024, the Journal of Testing and Evaluation published its study on cannabis consumer packaging waste, "Raising the Volume: How Regulations and Consumer Market Trends Have Increased the Volume of Cannabis Packaging Waste in California.”,
Colbert’s analysis found that California’s cannabis consumer waste stream had been substantially underestimated. His report compared its scale with other familiar hazardous consumer waste streams, including pharmaceuticals, motor oil, and batteries, and highlighted the growing role of vape hardware and lithium batteries.
Colbert’s analysis challenged earlier estimates of cannabis-related consumer waste in California. His research found that the waste stream was comparable in volume to consumer pharmaceutical waste and larger than waste streams from products such as motor oil or batteries.
The findings are particularly important as cannabis consumption increasingly involves electronic vaporizer products. Discarded vape devices contain batteries and other components that can create hazards when they enter ordinary trash and recycling systems. Colbert has highlighted the connection between improperly discarded cannabis vape products and fires at waste facilities, as well as risks to municipal workers who may encounter discarded batteries while maintaining public spaces.
His research challenges the cannabis market and regulators to consider product safety beyond the period when a product is being consumed. Packaging and device requirements can shape what happens after use, and rules intended to protect consumers may create new environmental or community-health consequences when products are difficult to recycle, recover, or dispose of safely.
The study fills an important gap in cannabis sustainability discussions. Environmental impacts are often measured at cultivation or manufacturing facilities, while the millions of packages, cartridges, batteries, and other products that leave retail stores receive far less attention. The future of medical cannabis should not require choosing between patient access, product safety, and environmental responsibility. Colbert’s work shows why all three must be considered when designing cannabis products and regulatory systems.
Mitchell Colbert’s research reflects the Discovery Award by identifying an overlooked safety problem, measuring its scale, and connecting consumer cannabis waste to environmental, worker, and community risk.
Colbert, Mitchell R. “Raising the Volume: How Regulations and Consumer Market Trends Have Increased the Volume of Cannabis Packaging Waste in California.” Journal of Testing and Evaluation 52, no. 6 (2024): 3253–71. https://doi.org/10.1520/JTE20230806. https://www.astm.org/jte20230806.html
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“A lifelong passion for sustainability is what originally drew me to working on cannabis policy issues, as a consumer advocate, budtender, and then as a lobbyist/researcher focused on packaging waste. As a cannabis consumer, I have always been mindful of the waste generated by my purchases and the negative impacts that it will have on the environment and the health of people living near where that waste is processed. Though many cannabis consumers and businesses may be in the dark about the harmful impacts their buying choices have on community health and safety, cannabis packaging waste is a bigger waste stream than motor oil or batteries and is on par with pharmaceutical waste, which makes it a major risk to consumer and community health. So if you agree with me that improperly disposed of motor oil, batteries, and pharmaceutical waste are safety risks to our communities, then without argument you will agree that cannabis waste is an equally critical risk that needs addressing.” |
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