News in brief
- The government has confirmed that the sale of disposable vapes will be banned in England from June next year
- Five million disposable vapes are thrown away each week, which is equivalent to eight vapes being thrown away every second
- They typically end up in landfill, where the batteries can leak harmful waste
What the experts say
Defra’s Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh, whose role focuses on reducing waste in the economy, says disposable vapes were “extremely wasteful and blight our towns and cities”, but John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that a ban would “fuel” illegal sales.
The detail
In a move that will be celebrated by environmentalists, the sale of disposable vapes will be banned in England from June next year, with similar bans expected to be introduced by devolved governments shortly after.
According to research by the UK non-profit organization Material Focus, five million disposable vapes are thrown away each week, with the lithium batteries from these vapes equivalent to the batteries from 5,000 electric vehicles over the course of a year.
Batteries thrown into household waste also cause hundreds of fires in bin lorries and waste-processing centres every year.
Defra’s Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh, whose role focuses on reducing waste in the economy, said disposable vapes were “extremely wasteful and blight our towns and cities”.
“That is why we are banning single use vapes as we end this nation’s throwaway culture,” she said.
“This is the first step on the road to a circular economy, where we use resources for longer, reduce waste, accelerate the path to net-zero and create thousands of jobs across the country.”
But John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that a ban would “fuel” illegal sales.
“We have a black market in vaping products already that the authorities can’t really keep up [with], so now this is going to be dropped right on their lap as well,” he said.
The government plans to introduce legislation to ban the sale of disposable vapes from 1st June 2025, allowing retailers time to sell their remaining stock.
The devolved governments have all announced an intention to bring in similar bans.
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