The sale of disposable vapes will be banned in England next summer, the government has confirmed.
From June 2025 it will be illegal to sell single-use vapes, in a move designed to combat environmental damage and their widespread use among children.
The legislation has been introduced in parliament, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed on Wednesday. The department said it had worked closely with devolved governments on the ban and would “align the effective dates”.
Defra said companies would have until June 1 next year to “sell any remaining shares they hold and prepare for the ban to come into force”.
Round Economy Minister Mary Creagh said disposable vapes were “extremely wasteful and blighting our towns and cities”.
He added: “That's why we're banning single-use vaporizers as we end the throwaway culture in this nation. “This is the first step on the path to a round economy, where we use resources for longer, reduce waste, accelerate the path to net zero and create thousands of jobs across the country.”
The vaping lobby has argued that the bill will boost sales of disposable vaporizers on the black market.
John Dunne, head of the UK Vaping Industry Association, told BBC Radio 4's Right Now program on Thursday: “One of the main concerns, at least with the latest version of the bill that I saw before the arrival of the new government, [it] It did not include, for example, a prohibition on the import of products whose sale they are going to prohibit. So, in my opinion, that will only feed a black market.”
Dunne said vapers would buy products online from abroad and that the black market for vapers was already one “that authorities really can't keep up with.”
Rishi Sunak's government introduced legislation on the issue but ran out of time in the previous parliament.
The tobacco and vaping bill would prevent anyone born after 2009 from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be purchased. It also sought to impose restrictions on the sale and marketing of vaporizers for children.
Last year, it was estimated that almost 5 million single-use vapes were thrown away or thrown into regular rubbish each week in the UK, almost four times more than the previous year.
Defra said vaping use in England had grown by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, and that 9.1% of the British public now buy and use the products.
Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “It is deeply worrying that a quarter of children aged 11 to 15 used a vape in the last year and we know that disposables are the product of choice for the majority of children who vape. nowadays. Banning disposable vaporizers will not only protect the environment, it will also significantly reduce the appeal of vaporizers to children and keep them out of the reach of vulnerable young people.
“The Government will also introduce the Tobacco and Vaping Bill, the biggest public health intervention in a generation, which will protect young people from becoming addicted to nicotine and pave the way for a smoke-free UK.”
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