Sale and supply of single-use vapes to be banned

The government is to ban the sale and supply of single-use vapes by next summer.

Legislation to introduce the ban from 1 June next year has been laid out in parliament, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed.

Businesses will have until the deadline “to sell any remaining stock they hold and prepare for the ban coming into force”, it said.

The UK government and devolved governments worked closely on the ban and would “align coming into force dates”, the department added.

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Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said single-use vapes were “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,” she said.

“This is the first step on the road to a circular economy, where we use resources for longer, reduce waste, accelerate the path to net zero and create thousands of jobs across the country.”

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Millions thrown away each week last year

Last year it was estimated almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste each week in the UK – almost four times as much as the previous year.

DEFRA said vape usage in England grew by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023. It said 9.1% of the British public now buy and use them.

Teenage vape use ‘deeply worrying’

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.

“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.”

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.”