On Thursday, the 24th of October, the UK government announced that it will ban disposable e-cigarettes, or vapes, from next year to tackle environmental harm and rising levels of use among children, according to Reuters and the BBC.
Health authorities have raised concerns about the use of vapes among young people because their colourful design and fruity flavours make them noticeable in stores. The country prohibits the sale or purchase of nicotine-containing e-cigarettes to persons under the age of 18.
According to a 2024 survey by health charity ASH, around one in five children aged 11-17 say they have tried vaping.
The plan to ban disposable vapes was drawn up by the previous Conservative government in January, but was not implemented until after the July elections, which were won by the Labour Party.
Labour’s Culture Minister said that the number of children who are vaping had tripled in the last three years and that disposable vapes caused many environmental problems.
The UK government has highlighted that disposable e-cigarettes are difficult to recycle, often end up in landfills leaking harmful substances such as battery acid, lithium and mercury, and that e-cigarette batteries discarded in household waste have caused hundreds of fires in bin lorries and recycling centres.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) estimates that nearly five million disposable vapes were thrown in the bin or household waste every week last year, almost four times more than the year before.
In 2022, vapes were thrown away containing a total of more than 40 tonnes of lithium, enough to power 5 000 electric vehicles, the report said.
Public Health Minister Andrew Gwyne said banning vapes would help reduce their appeal to children and prevent them falling into the hands of vulnerable children. But John Dunne of the UK E-Cigarette Industry Association warned that the ban could “fuel” the illegal trade.
The government plans to introduce a law banning the sale of disposable e-cigarettes from the 1st of June 2025, giving retailers time to sell any remaining stock.
A separate study by ASH earlier this year said that, among tobacco smokers, vapes are the most popular quit aid, with nearly three million people in the UK quitting smoking in the last five years thanks to vaping.