Single-use vapes will be banned from the shelves in all corner shops and supermarkets from tomorrow – but there are fears it might not be enough to tackle a vapes waste crisis
Single-use vapes will be banned from the shelves from tomorrow – but there are fears it might not be enough to tackle a vapes waste crisis.
Ministers said the move will help end “an avalanche of rubbish flooding the nation’s streets”, as well as tackling a worrying rise in vapes found in school playgrounds. Shops will face tough new rules to help tackle the scourge of disposable vapes – and will be punished if they fail to keep to them.
Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said: “For too long, single-use vapes have blighted our streets as litter and hooked our children on nicotine. That ends today. The Government calls time on these nasty devices.”
But vape producers have ramped up development of new products to get around the rules. It has raised fears that threats of a “vapocalypse” are far from over.
Here’s everything you need to know about the new rules.
READ MORE: Single-use vapes to be banned from tomorrow as FULL details set out
What is the single-use vape ban?
Single-use vapes will be banned from the shelves of all shops from tomorrow. The new crackdown will make it illegal to sell disposable vapes at corner shops and supermarkets from June 1.
New on-the-spot £200 fines will be introduced for any rogue traders breaking the rules. Those who show a “blatant disregard” for the ban and reoffend face being slapped with an unlimited fine or jail time.
Convenience shops have been preparing for the disposables ban for several months, adapting their ranges and training colleagues on the products that they can sell.
Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said: “We have been working with Trading Standards officers across the country to ensure they know what to look for once the ban comes into force, and support robust enforcement activity to take illegal vapes off the streets.”
Why is it being brought in?
Interestingly, the disposable vape ban is not being brought in by the Department for Health and Social Care. Instead it is being led by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Vapes contain valuable and critical materials such as lithium and copper that are regularly binned in household waste. If littered, their batteries can also cause fires and other damaging or toxic impacts on the environment as well as wildlife.
Ministers said non-refillable and non-rechargeable vapes are typically being thrown away with general waste in black bins or littered rather than recycled. It said even when disposable vapes are recycled, the process is “notoriously arduous, slow and costly”, with waste industry workers required to take them apart by hand.
Under current rules, vape producers already have a legal responsibility to finance their collection for recycling.
How many people use disposable vapes?
Vaping products have been promoted in recent years as a useful way for people to quit smoking. Early research shows using E-cigarettes is much less harmful than smoking but the long-term effects are still unknown. Health experts have encouraged non-smokers and children never to vape.
But disposable vapes have been blamed for a boom in child vaping. Despite being illegal for kids to buy, youngsters are managing to get hold of them with ease. They can be bought for cheap prices at corner shops, easily accessible for a child with just a few pounds of pocket money.
Since the disposable vape ban was announced, there have been good signs that people have been ditching them. New data from charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) shows the number of vapers in Britain who mainly use single-use devices fell from 30% in 2024 to 24% in 2025, while the use of disposables by 18 to 24-year-olds vapers fell from 52% in 2024 to 40% in 2025.
Will the disposable vapes ban work?
Some campaigners have warned the waste crisis linked to vapes will continue despite the ban amid a surge in cheap new models flooding the market.
Green campaigners say vape producers have been developing new styles that are cheap but meet reusable criteria, meaning they essentially circumvent the ban. Material Focus, which advocates for circular economies, said increasingly popular “big puff” vapes are cheaper per inhalation than disposable devices.
The group also highlighted pod-based styles, some of which are rechargeable and refillable but remain cheap enough for consumers to have little incentive to reuse them. In many cases the products have a similar look, feel and price to disposable models, the campaigners said.
Scott Butler, executive director of Material Focus, said: “Without quick and extensive action, the threat of a ‘vapocalypse’ remains and new big puff and pod vape models are already contributing to an environmental nightmare.”
He added that vape company design teams have been “working their socks off to get new legal models on to the market” while the regulatory work was being carried out. “To most users of these vapes, and shopkeepers even, they may not notice any difference in the old disposable vapes versus the new re-useable ones,” he said.
What more will be done to curb child vaping?
Separate legislation to restrict vapes being deliberately advertised to kids is currently passing through Parliament. The Tobacco and Vapes Bill, introduced by the Department of Health, will end the use of brightly coloured packaging and vape flavours that appeal to children – such as bubble gum, gummy bear and cotton candy.
The Bill will also introduce measures to crackdown on the sale of vapes to underage people. It will introduce on-the-spot £200 fines similar to those brought in under the single-use vape ban.
The legislation will also aim to make Britain smokefree by preventing anyone born on or after January 1, 2009 from ever being able to legally buy tobacco products.
What have environmental and waste expers said?
Libby Peake, senior fellow and head of resources at Green Alliance, said: “Single use vapes should never have been allowed on the market. They’ve been a blight on our countryside, wasted resources needed for important uses like EV (electric vehicles) batteries and caused scores of fires at waste sites.”
Justin Greenaway, Commercial Manager at SWEEEP Kuusakoski, an electrical waste management company said: “We hope this ban will succeed in reducing the amount of vapes being discarded. Every vape has potential to start a fire if incorrectly disposed of. Logically vape unit waste will reduce as single use stops and multi-use must start but it does rely on consumers changing from a disposable mindset to refilling.”
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What have health experts said?
Caroline Cerny, ASH’s deputy chief executive, said: “It’s promising to see that many people switched away from disposable vapes to re-usable products well ahead of the ban. This new law is a step towards reducing vaping among children, while ensuring products are available to support people to quit smoking.”
Sarah Sleet, chief executive at Asthma + Lung UK, said: “With their pocket money prices, and child-friendly marketing and flavour options making them more accessible, disposables have fuelled the worrying rise in the number of children vaping. But the ban on sales is only the first step. Vaping should only be used as a tool to help someone quit smoking.”
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