The UK’s Ban on Single-Use Vapes

On the 24th October 2024 new legislation was passed in parliament to ban the sale of single-use vapes from 1st June 2025 (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs et al., 2024). Disposable vapes are pre-charged electronic vaping devices which are designed to be used once, without needing to be re-filled, and then conveniently discarded once the vaping liquid has been used up. Most disposable vapes are ‘calibrated to provide around 400-600 puffs, roughly equivalent to a pack of 20 traditional cigarettes” (Vapestore.co.uk, 2022). 

In the UK, 7.7 million single-use vapes are brought every week by UK adults aged 16 and over, this has doubled since 2022 (Material Focus, 2023). More concerningly, “a quarter of 11 to 15-year-olds have tried vaping and nearly 1 in 10 (9%) do it frequently” (NHS England, 2024). In addition, 73% of UK vapers say they throw away single-use vapes instead of choosing to correctly dispose of them in recycling bins (Material Focus, 2023), leading governments worldwide to question the harmful environmental effects of disposable vapes.  

Disposable vapes have a surprisingly large and diverse impact on our environment in the UK. The smoking liquid can harm aquatic life and contaminate water, the circuit boards and lithium batteries generate electronic waste and also present themselves as a fire hazard when disposed of improperly due to electronic components. In addition, they are made from non-biodegradable plastic which is hard to recycle and often ends up in landfills or littering our countryside and waterways (VicHealth, 2023). One of the goals of this new legislation is to reduce the amount of plastic and litter pollution which comes as a consequence of disposable vapes, these goals align with this.

Initially, this ban was suggested by Rishi Sunak along with his proposal to raise the age of cigarette smokers each year to completely illegalise cigarette use in the future. 

The Minister for Public Health and Prevention, Andre Gwynne, said: “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” (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs et al., 2024). Undoubtedly, disposable vapes have a significant impact on our environment, however, this initiative could also be a step in the right direction to improve our nation’s public health and reduce our crippling reliance on nicotine, a health epidemic which costs the NHS £2.6 billion each year (NHS, 2022). Tobacco dependency is correlated with an increased risk of heart disease, stroke, multiple types of cancer, and chronic lung disease (CDC, 2024). A reduction in tobacco dependency could help relieve the NHS’s chronic financial turmoil, which is at its most serious since its founding.  

Other countries have tried to implement a similar policy. For example, in New Zealand, a complete ban on disposable vapes took effect on March 19th 2024. By 1st October 2024, all vaping devices being sold in New Zealand were required to have removable batteries and a child safety mechanism (Ministry of Health NZ, 2024). The New Zealand Health Minister Casey Costello stated that “reusable vapes would remain available for adults as they are a key smoking cessation device” (De Guzman, 2024), despite the World Health Organisation arguing that vapes are “not shown to be effective for quitting tobacco use at the population level” (De Guzman, 2024). Unsurprisingly, there is global disagreement regarding which course of action aiming to reduce a nation’s vaping levels is best. In addition, it seems to be much too soon to determine the consequences of such bans and whether they are effective in preventing underage smokers and reducing smoking among age-legal vapers. 

Going forward, we can expect to see more countries engaging with similar single-use vaping bans and stringent restrictions on the design and flavours of vaping products to deter younger people. In the long term, more data will become available to advise on the effectiveness and sustainable implementation of these restrictions. Until such a time arrives, we must trust that the governing bodies and the individuals with the power to introduce these policies are taking careful consideration to determine the best course of action.

By Charlotte Brogan

Bibliography:

CDC (2024). Tobacco.  Chronic Disease Indicators. [Online]Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/cdi/indicator-definitions/tobacco.html. (Accessed 4 Dec. 2024)

De Guzman, C. (2024). New Zealand to Ban Disposable Vapes. TIME. [Online] Available at: https://time.com/6958616/new-zealand-disposable-vape-ban-smoking-youth/ (Accessed 4 Dec. 2024)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department of Health and Social Care, Creagh, M., Gwynne, A. (2024). Government crackdown on single-use vapes. Gov.uk.[Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-crackdown-on-single-use-vapes.  (Accessed 4 Dec. 2024)

Material Focus (2023). Disposable single-use Vapes Thrown Away Have Quadrupled to 5 Million per Week.  [Online]Available at: https://www.materialfocus.org.uk/press-releases/disposable-single-use-vapes-thrown-away-have-quadrupled-to-5-million-per-week/ (Accessed 20 Nov. 2024).

Ministry of Health NZ. (2024). Vaping regulations coming into effect 1 October. [Online] Available at: https://www.health.govt.nz/news/vaping-regulations-coming-into-effect-1-october.  (Accessed 4 Dec. 2024)

NHS England. (2024). NHS England» Almost 1 in 10 secondary school pupils currently vape, new NHS survey shows.[Online]  Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/2024/10/almost-1-in-10-secondary-school-pupils-currently-vape-new-nhs-survey-shows/ (Accessed 20 Nov. 2024).

NHS England (2022). NHS England» Guide for NHS Trust Tobacco Dependence Teams and NHS Trust Pharmacy Teams. [Online] Available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/guide-for-nhs-trust-tobacco-dependence-teams-and-nhs-trust-pharmacy-teams/. (Accessed 4 Dec. 2024)

Vapestore.co.uk. (2022). What Are Disposable Vapes? [Online] Available at: https://www.vapestore.co.uk/blog/what-are-disposable-vapes.html. (Accessed Nov. 2024)

VicHealth (2023). The impact of vaping on our environment. [Online] Available at: https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/our-health/vaping/impact-environment. (Accessed Nov. 2024)