{"id":25934,"date":"2025-08-11T13:20:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T13:20:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/?p=25934"},"modified":"2025-08-11T13:43:15","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T13:43:15","slug":"austria-moves-to-ban-disposable-vapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/post\/austria-moves-to-ban-disposable-vapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Austria moves to ban disposable vapes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Austria is set to ban the sale of disposable vapes, citing concerns about youth vaping and environmental risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Secretary for Health Ulrike K\u00f6nigsberger-Ludwig told the Austrian newspaper Der Standard that disposable vapes \u201ccontain harmful substances and often serve as a gateway to smoking for very young people.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added: \u201cThey also pose a risk to the environment, as the lithium batteries they contain can easily catch fire during disposal.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Austrian Waste Management Association (VOEB) welcomed the ban, with VOEB president Gabriele J\u00fcly calling it \u201can important step in the right direction.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She highlighted a rise in battery-related fires at Austrian waste facilities, which she said have increased more than fivefold over the past decade, causing serious safety risks, operational disruptions, and financial losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns for adult smokers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, critics warn the ban will negatively impact smokers who turn to disposable vapes as a less harmful alternative to smoking. There is also a risk that banning these products may push users toward unregulated sources, potentially undermining harm reduction efforts and complicating youth prevention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Austria\u2019s proposed ban follows similar measures in Belgium, France, the UK, and Switzerland. Yet evidence from these countries suggests that banning disposable vapes does not always deliver the intended benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, the UK\u2019s ban on disposables, introduced in June 2025, has seen an unintended rise in black-market sales<\/a>, making it harder to regulate product safety and control youth access. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A poll last month found nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of Brits do not think the ban will reduce youth access to vaping products, while 45 per cent believe it will fail to lessen environmental damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public health experts have warned that such restrictions can drive adult vapers to seek unregulated and potentially unsafe alternatives, undermining efforts to reduce smoking-related harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Germany has taken a different approach by introducing draft legislation to create a device take-back system at retail outlets. It has also implemented restrictions on nicotine content and the size of e-liquid reservoirs. However, it is reported to be considering a ban on some flavoured vapes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

HTP flavourings ban<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, Austria amended the Tobacco and Non-Smoker Protection Act to ban the addition of flavourings to heated tobacco products. Vapes, which use e-liquids without tobacco leaves, were explicitly excluded from the flavour ban, reflecting regulatory distinctions between them and heated tobacco. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

State Secretary K\u00f6nigsberger-Ludwig indicated that further measures to protect non-smokers would be introduced later in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Austria is set to ban the sale of single-use vapes, citing concerns about youth vaping and environmental risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":990002,"featured_media":25967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[257,258],"tags":[353,336,327,328,186],"slider":[],"class_list":["post-25934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-legislation","tag-austria","tag-belgium","tag-france","tag-germany","tag-nicotine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/990002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25934"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25943,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25934\/revisions\/25943"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25934"},{"taxonomy":"slider","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clearingtheair.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/slider?post=25934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}