The government has announced that a ban on single-use disposable vapes will come into force next June. A ban was originally announced at the beginning of the year and formed part of the Conservative government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill. However, this law was lost when the General Election was called last May.
The current Labour government said the ban would both protect the environment and make vaping less attractive to younger people. Most single use vapes are thrown into general waste bins or discarded as litter rather than recycled. The non-profit organisation, Material Focus, estimated last year that almost five million single-use vapes were thrown away compared with 1.3 million in 2022 previous year which is equivalent of eight being thrown away per second.
The government’s Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said: “Single-use vapes are 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.”
Minister for Public Health and Prevention, 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.
“Banning disposable vapes will not only protect the environment, but importantly reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people.”
The Local Government Association (LGA), that represents councils that have to clean up the products and have responsibility, alongside the NHS, for public health in their communities, welcomed the news in posts on social media site, X.
In a LGA post Councillor David Fothergill, Chairman of its Community Wellbeing Board said, “The government has listened to the longstanding concerns of the LGA and councils and are taking decisive action to ban single-use vapes.”
The government has pledged to reintroduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which will bring in a progressive smoking ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country. The Bill previously also introduced restrictions on the flavours and packaging of vapes. Additionally, more powers were to be given to Trading Standards to prevent under-age sales of tobacco and vapes.
Responding to the news of the disposable vape ban, Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of the public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said: “While the ban is an important show of intention from the government, without further product and branding regulations this ban will be insufficient to address the popularity of vapes among teenagers. The government must introduce the proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill swiftly.”
The latest figures from the NHS, covering a survey of secondary school pupils in England in years 7 to 11, released earlier this month showed that in 2023 vaping was at a similar level to 2021, at 9%. However, 25% of students admitted to trying vaping. Of those who have tried vaping, 89% have never regularly smoked tobacco cigarettes.
This reflects recent academic research showing that a rise in vaping was taking place among young people who were not regular smokers. The Khan Review: Making Smoking Obsolete, published in 2022, strongly advocated vaping as a means to quit smoking but made clear that the government “should do everything they possibly can to prevent children and young people from vaping, including by banning child friendly packaging and descriptions.”
Meanwhile the research from Material Focus found that younger vapers were more likely to throw away their disposable vapes irresponsibly, admitting they did this to hide their habit from others. The study found that 31% of 16-18 year old vapers tended to throw away, drop or even flushed their vapes down the toilet because they did not want the people, they live with to know they vape – compared to 8% of the population.
The research also found that 3% of UK vapers said they drop single-use vapes on the ground compared to 8% of 16–18-year-olds and 33% of this age group that vape said they threw single-use devices away in the bin at their place of education or work. Talking with schools we are also aware of vapes being thrown into sanitary waste bins, leading to concerns about the fire hazard by those collecting this waste.
The government is giving time for shops to sell stocks of disposable vapes before the ban take effect. However, UK schools have found they need to tackle the growing numbers of their students who are vaping right now. Staff training, student education and developing the right policies will help, but many schools have found vape detectors are the key to success in tackling vaping among students. We supply the HALO Smart Sensor which can help schools to combat vaping. If you want to know more, please contact us.