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.
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. 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.
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.
The Department for Environment said non-refillable and non-rechargeable vapes are typically being thrown away with general waste in black bins or littered rather than recycled.
READ MORE: Disposable vape ban sparks stockpiling frenzy among a quarter of users
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. Their batteries also present a fire risk to recycling facilities and can leak harmful chemicals into the environment.
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 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.
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.
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.”
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.”
Association of Convenience Stores chief executive James Lowman said: “Convenience retailers have been preparing for the disposables ban for several months, adapting their ranges and training colleagues on the products that they can sell.”
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.”
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