This month, the Local Government Association (LGA), representing councils across England and Wales, called upon the UK Government for an outright ban on the manufacture and sale of single-use “disposable” vaping devices next year.
On 14th July, the LGA announced that a ban on single-use vapes needs to come into effect rapidly due to them appealing to children, creating litter, causing a fire hazard, and impacting the environment. Whilst we agree with the sentiments behind their announcement, is a ban really the solution? Besides, cigarettes also meet all the criteria for their desire for a disposables ban - but there’s no sign of them calling for an outright and swift prohibition on fags.
For this article, we’ve explored whether the benefits of a total ban really would outweigh the benefits of these proven smoking cessation tools. We also outline the responsibilities that we all share if we’re going to prevent a ban from happening - either next year, or in the years to come.
The rise and rise of disposables
On the whole, the UK Government, alongside the vast majority of the public health experts, believes that vaping is a force for good as a quitting method. The number of people who smoke has fallen year-on-year in line with the evolution of the vaping industry. This decline has been helped massively by the rise of single-use vapes.
The low cost, ease of use, and variety of options within the disposables market has resulted in UK smoking rates being at an all time low. Smokers cite these reasons as being key to them quitting, and staying quit, from combustible tobacco.
With more than 200 UK smokers dying from smoking related illnesses each and every day, affecting loved ones, and putting massive strain on health services, we should be very wary of calls to ban disposables and sending millions of vapers back to cigarettes.
A couple of years ago, few would have predicted that disposables would become so prevalent, and this is definitely causing significant challenges. It’s right that these important issues are discussed, and regulations adapted, introduced, and enforced, to provide necessary solutions. We all bear responsibility to ensure we don’t lose these valuable assets, and take a huge step back in the progress we’ve made towards a smoke-free future.
Disposable vape bans around the world
Experience shows that in places where regulated single-use vapes have been banned, there has been a massive increase in the number of illicit, untested, and potentially harmful black-market disposables to take their place.
In fact, even outside of the vape industry, we can look back through history to see that prohibition isn’t effective. Whether it be drugs or alcohol, demand will always create supply. When there is no legitimate way to supply products that people want, the illegitimate methods find a way.
Granted, a ban on disposables will deter law-abiding citizens from placing their weekly order with their favourite responsible vape retailer, but it won’t take away the cravings that made them reach for the vape in the first place.
Illegal disposables already exist in the UK
Anyone arguing that this wouldn’t happen in the UK needs to take a trip to Specsavers. You only need to take a walk down your local high street to see the number of shops that are brazenly selling disposable vapes that breach TPD regulations.
You may see the odd media story about illegal vapes being seized by Trading Standards; but on the whole, a report to Trading Standards about a rogue retailer will lead nowhere.
If these businesses already believe that selling illicit disposables is worth the risk, due to lack of enforcement on the laws that are already in place, you’d be mad to think that banning legitimate single-use vapes will give them pause for thought. All it will accomplish is boosting their market share.
Plus, if these unscrupulous vendors care little about the safety of the products they sell, they probably care even less about selling to minors. If the LGA wants to prevent disposables from getting into the hands of under-18s, they’re going about it in completely the wrong way.
Disposable vapes and littering
Another reason cited by the LGA for their call for an outright ban on single-use vapes is the cost to councils to clear the discarded devices from our streets and parks.
While this is an important concern, the problem of disposable litter doesn’t come close to the problem of smoking related litter, which accounts for 68% of all litter in the UK. In fact, cigarette butts alone cost local authorities £40 million every year to clear up.
Rather than banning them, councils should be increasing the number and visibility of recycling receptacles in our towns and green spaces. They should be ensuring that when waste batteries are taken to recycling centres, they are handled in a way that reduces the risk of fires, and recovers more of the useful materials contained within the device.
Private waste companies, such as Veolia and Biffa, have launched nationwide vape collection and recycling programmes. Also, vape manufacturers such as Elux are supplying vape recycling bins around the UK, and Elf Bar has partnered with a UK lithium recycling company to improve sustainability.
This is a fantastic step forward which local councils would do well to learn from.
Enforcement, enforcement, enforcement!
There are already myriad rules and regulations around the manufacture and sale of vaping devices in the UK. According to TPD, vapes cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 18; the e-liquid content of a vaping device must not exceed 2ml; the nicotine content must be a maximum of 20mg (2%).
Add to this the fact that dropping litter in the UK is illegal, and the WEEE Directive legislates the proper disposal, recycling, and reuse of waste electricals.
So, if regulations already exist that counter the most pressing issues raised by the LGA, why the call for a ban?
The answer lies with enforcement; and the irony is that the enforcement of these laws is the responsibility of the very same body that is calling for the ban - local councils.
There is no doubt that councils are strapped for cash, and need to deliver countless vital services with the budget they are allocated. That’s why the vaping industry has been rapidly adapting to try and take up the slack; but we can’t manage it by ourselves.
Councils should be working with the vaping industry, rather than against us. We all need to come together to find meaningful solutions, and improve the enforcement of the rules that are already in place. If those rules then turn out to be inadequate, then we can look at ways to improve them; it may seem counter-intuitive, but the vaping industry is actually in favour of more regulation, not less.
Disposables (legitimate ones at least) in and of themselves are not the issue - they do more good than harm, as long as the regulations that govern them are actually enforced.
Will disposable vapes be banned in the UK?
So, to answer the original question of whether single-use vapes are going to be banned in 2024, our conclusion is that it’s highly unlikely.
Major public health bodies, and organisations such as ASH, are unsupportive of a ban due to the risk of taking a step backwards from our progress towards a smoke-free future.
However, that doesn’t mean that we can rest on our laurels - we all have a part to play in ensuring that the balance of harm vs benefit doesn’t tip in the favour of harm.
Industry responsibility
As an industry, vaping manufacturers have a responsibility to keep innovating quickly and find ways to minimise the impact of disposable vape bars. This can already be seen happening with the launch of fully recyclable single-use vapes such as the ANDS Slix.
Producers and importers also need to comply with the Environment Agency’s rules on minimising the harmful effects of waste batteries on the environment. These rules are:
- Improving the design of new batteries
- Paying for waste battery collection, treatment, recycling, and disposal
Retailer responsibility
As responsible vape retailers, we have a duty of care to ensure that vapes don’t get into the hands of minors, by conducting stringent age verification checks at the point of sale.
We also have a responsibility to provide robust and well-advertised disposable take-back schemes to help towards the recycling efforts. This should include comprehensive and continued consumer education about how to properly dispose of used vapes, which on the whole are highly recyclable.
Council responsibility
Local councils have a responsibility to up their game when it comes to enforcing the rules and regulations that are already in place regarding the sale of illegal disposables and selling to children.
They also need to rethink whether calling for a ban on these life-saving products is more important to them than investing in recycling. As John Dunne, Director-General of the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), said in his statement:
“The negative consequences of these proposals have not been thought through, and this also looks like a move by the LGA to support cash-strapped councils who don’t want to invest in the local authority’s waste management capability required to support smokers transitioning to considerably less harmful vapes.
Smokers pay their taxes for local services, one being recycling, and local government needs to think whether recycling costs are a more important consideration than helping to potentially save the lives of local people through vaping, including disposables, which has the potential to save local hospitals across the country millions of pounds every year.”
Consumer responsibility
As users of single-use vapes, you also bear a share of the responsibility in ensuring the continued availability of these devices.
You need to dispose of them properly - each and every time. That means that they DO NOT go into the bin and they DO NOT get thrown on the ground.
Take them to your local recycling centre. Take/send them back to the vape shop you bought them from. Take them to the supermarket when you do your weekly shop. Take them to any one of the many places that can properly handle waste batteries - landfill IS NOT one of those places.
You should also be looking to switch away from disposables when you’re sure that vaping is the right option for you. Vaping disposables for a long period of time is a costly way to vape. You’d be far better off investing in a refillable and rechargeable device. That way, you can stay off the smokes while having more cash in your pocket, and smokers that want to quit will still have single-use vape bars as an option in the future.
We're here to help you quit smoking for good
At Vape UK, we pride ourselves on being responsible vaping advocates. We keep up to date with all of the latest news and studies; we only supply high-quality TPD compliant vaping products; and we are always on hand to offer helpful and honest advice about vaping. Please get in touch if you have any queries on quitting smoking.
About the author - Nicola Webster
Nicola Webster works as a researcher, consultant, and content creator for Vape UK. She holds a CIM Level 6 Diploma in Professional Marketing and has developed her skills and knowledge of analytics and research over a 12 year career in product marketing. Her research led approach to campaigns and content writing ensures the articles she writes for Vape UK always have a basis in fact and cut through the noise. A strong advocate for tobacco harm reduction, Nicola is an ex-smoker thanks to vaping and wants others to understand the benefits of vaping compared to smoking. 
