Nearly five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in the UK each week, damning new statistics show – but now disposable vapes will be banned
Disposable vapes will be banned in shops by next summer in a bid to stop kids taking up the habit and protect the environment.
Ministers have warned businesses to “sell any remaining stock they hold and prepare for the ban coming into force”. New legislation will ban the sale of single-use vapes from June 1 next year.
It comes amid growing alarm over the number of young people vaping, with sales rocketing to record levels. Environment minister Mary Creagh said single-use vapes were “extremely wasteful and blight our towns and cities”. She continued: “That is why we are banning single use vapes as we end this nation’s throwaway culture.”
She said the Government is trying to reduce waste and use resources for longer. Ministers have now laid new legislation before Parliament to introduce the ban.
Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “It’s deeply worrying that a quarter of 11-15-year-olds used a vape last year and we know disposables are the product of choice for the majority of kids vaping today.”
Mr Gwynne added: “The government will also introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill – the biggest public health intervention in a generation – which will protect young people from becoming hooked on nicotine and pave the way for a smoke-free UK.”
Earlier this month, the Daily Mirror told how a study found that one million people who never regularly smoked now vape – and most do so daily. Government figures show that vape use in England grew by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, with 9.1% of the British public now buying and using these products.
The move is also designed to limit the environmental damage caused by single-use vapes being thrown away – with 40 tonnes of lithium from disposable batteries being dumped in 2022.
Almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in the UK each week – the equivalent of eight being dumped per second, according to Government figures.
On Monday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting promised to toughen up smoking laws with a “more ambitious” bill than the Conservatives. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, tabled in the last parliament, sought to prevent anyone born after January 1 2009 from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought.
It also aimed to impose restrictions on the sale and marketing of vapes to children. Mr Streeting told reporters at an east London health facility on Monday: “We will introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill before Christmas.”
Libby Peake, head of resources at Green Alliance, said: “Disposable vapes are the last thing our children and the planet need, and for too long the market for them has been allowed to grow unchecked.”
