Disposable vapes will be banned in the UK from next summer, the government has confirmed.
From June 1, 2025 it will be illegal to sell single-use vapes in England, Wales or Scotland, in a move designed to reduce their appeal to children and young people.
It emerged last week that the Labour government is also planning to announce a tax hike on vapes in the Autumn Budget on October 30.
The latest legislation was presented to parliament on Wednesday. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it had worked closely with devolved governments to ensure the ban would come into force simultaneously.
Defra said businesses will have until 1 June next year “to sell any remaining stock they hold and prepare for the ban coming into force”.
Circular economy minister Mary Creagh said disposable vapes are “extremely wasteful and blight our towns and cities”.
She added: “That is why we are banning single-use vapes as we end this nation’s throwaway culture. 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.”
It’s “just going to fuel a black market”
However, vaping advocates argue that the ban will simply fuel parallel market sales of unregulated disposable vapes, meaning it will do more harm than good.
John Dunne, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “One of the major concerns, at least with the last version of the bill that I saw prior to the new government coming in, [is that it] didn’t include, for instance, a ban on the importation of the products that they’re going to ban for sale. So in my view, that’s just going to fuel a black market.”
Dunne said vapers could also simply buy products online from other countries.
“An absolutely insane idea”
Dan Marchant, director of vaping retailer Vape Club and founding member of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) said the ban is an “absolutely insane idea” and the consequences will be “far worse than any current issues we face with the products”.
He added: “The UK already has a thriving black market for illegal disposable vapes. Our 2024 Illegal Vaping Report found that since 2020, 4.18 million illegal vapes have been seized.
“The over-capacity and often over-strength products, which have not been through the regulatory processes in the UK to ensure they are fit for purpose, are dangerous due to the unknown and potentially harmful ingredients that have been found in them. Despite the increased focus on illegal activity, this hasn’t led to increased enforcement.
“While 2,871 sellers were identified as being in possession of, stocking, or selling illegal vapes in the UK in 2023, just one in 20 were found to have had fines or penalties issued.
“It is estimated that the illegal market is actually as big as the legal market, and with so many adults relying on disposable vapes to stay away from cigarettes, any kind of ban is just going to result in a boom for the illegal traders.”
He added that the authorities are struggling to enforce current laws, let alone a new blanket ban on disposables.
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak was forced to shelve its legislation on the issue of smoking and vaping when his government ran out of time in the previous parliament.
The controversial Tobacco and Vapes Bill aims to prevent anyone born from 2009 from ever being able to legally smoke, by gradually increasing the age at which cigarettes can be bought. It also includes restrictions on the sale, marketing and packaging of vapes.
Defra said vape use in England had grown by more than 400 per cent between 2012 and 2023, with 9.1 per cent of Brits now buying and using the products.
Striking a balance for smokers wanting to quit
Health minister Andrew 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.
“The government will also introduce the Tobacco and Vapes Bill - the biggest public health intervention in a generation - which will protect young people from becoming hooked on nicotine and pave the way for a smoke-free UK.”
However, Marchant said that protecting youth from taking up vaping needs to be balanced against the need to help people quit smoking.
He said: “We agree with the government that action needs to be taken to protect children from vaping in the UK, due to the rising numbers of youth vaping. However, we need to strike a balance between enforcing tighter restrictions whilst not discouraging those looking to quit smoking.”
