It is just under a month until the UK’s disposable vape ban comes into force. This ban is due to the environmental damage the irresponsible disposing of these vapes is causing. Additionally, there were concerns that disposable vapes were driving an increase in vaping among young people.
Having spoken to many schools that are dealing with the impact of vaping among young people their efforts to conceal their vapes were also causing health and safety concerns. For example, there are schools that have had their hygiene contracts cancelled due to vapes being found in sanitary bins causing a risk of fire when the contents are crushed. The risk of fires had also been identified by the government.
Industry bodies issues disposable vape ban guidance
The ban was announced last year to allow shops and online retailers to prepare and sell their existing stocks as they must stop selling or supplying disposable vapes by 1 June 2025. The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), Chartered Trading Standards Institute and the Local Government Association recently called on retailers to ensure that they were prepared to comply with the law.
From June, to be legal, vapes must be fully reusable and therefore have a battery to recharge the vape and be refillable with vape liquid. If a vape has a coil it must be one that can be replaced by an average user and a replacement coil must be available to buy separately.
The ACS produced guidance for retailers, developed with Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards, which outlined the steps that retailers needed to take to comply with the ban. It also outlined the other responsibilities of retailers in relation to selling vapes, including age related sales, recycling, and advertising.
This guidance reminds retailers that they must offer a recycling bin for vapes and be prepared to take back any vapes, based on the functionality of the vapes they sell but which could be of any brand. The ACS has also developed posters for shops to use informing customers of the ban and also to promote their recycling bins.
Disposable vape ban: a big regulatory change
ACS chief executive James Lowman said in March: “The introduction of the disposable vape ban is one of the biggest regulatory changes for retailers in recent memory, with businesses needing to think carefully about how they manage their range of vaping products in the coming months to ensure that they’re ready for June 1st. We urge all retailers to utilise our guide and get in touch if there are products that they’re not sure about.”
The disposable vape ban will be enforced by a range of agencies including:
- Border Force
- Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)
- Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS)
- Trading Standards
Under the disposable vape ban, England and Wales local authority Trading Standards, will lead on enforcement and they will be able to seize any single-use vapes they find. The punishments that they can issue vary slightly but include being able to issue a stop notice and to issue a fine of £200 in England, while in Wales there is also discretion to issue a variable fine of more than £200.
In Scotland the disposable vape ban will be enforced by local authorities that will report criminal cases to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, which is responsible for prosecuting offences under the regulations. Here, and in Northern Ireland, those found guilty of supplying, offering to supply or intending to supply single-use vapes could face fines of up to £5,000.
Vaping rise among young people stalls
A recent study, published in the journal Addiction and funded by Cancer Research UK, found that since the announcement of the disposable vape ban last October the rise in young people vaping has stalled.
The research by a team at the University College London (UCL) Institute of Epidemiology & Health Care found that the proportion of people vaping increased by nearly a quarter each year from January 2022 to January 2024, but stayed constant between January 2024 and January this year, including for young people.
After January 2024, they also found a substantial decline in the proportion of vapers mainly using disposable e-cigarettes. Among 16- to 24-year-olds, the proportion mainly using disposables almost halved, from 63% to 35%.
Lead author of the study, Dr Sarah Jackson, said: “Our results suggest that the Government’s ban on disposables, coming into force in June, may have limited impact on vaping rates in general, given that vapers are already moving away from disposable vapes. It seems likely that people using these products will move to re-usable versions rather than stop vaping completely.”
We can help schools and other settings to tackle vaping using the advanced technology of the HALO Smart Sensor. To find out more about this vape detector please contact us.