UK to Ban Disposable Vapes

The move aims to stop youth from vaping as well as reduce the environmental impact of the products. Vape use in the UK grew by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, with 9.1% of the British public now buying and using these products, the U.K. government 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,” said Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention. “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.”

According to a 2024 survey by health charity ASH, about one in five children aged 11-17 said they had tried vaping, reported Reuters.

“Last year, Materials Focus estimated that almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste every week in the UK, almost four times as much as the previous year and the equivalent of eight being thrown away per second. In 2022, they found more than 40 tons of lithium from single-use vapes was discarded, which is the same amount used to power 5,000 electric vehicles,” wrote the U.K. government.

Opponents of the bill point out that banning single-use vapes might fuel a black market of illegal products. According to an article in The Guardian, John Dunne, the director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said that vape users would buy products online from overseas, and that the parallel market in vapes was already one “that the authorities can’t really keep up with.”

Menthol flavor bans in the United States have fueled robust black markets, creating huge health risks that come with unregulated products while providing income to organized crime. Read “Unpacking the Menthol Black Market” from NACS Magazine.