UK to ban disposable vapes after widespread use by children

From June 2025 it will be illegal to sell single-use vapes, in a move designed to combat environmental damage and widespread use by children.

The legislation, which had been laid out in parliament by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, was confirmed on Wednesday, October 23.

DEFRA said businesses would have until 1 June next year “to sell any remaining stock they hold and prepare for the ban coming into force”.

The Circular Economy minister, Mary Creagh, too, said throwaway vapes were “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.”

The tobacco and vapes bill would prevent anyone born from 2009 from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought. 

Last year, it was estimated that almost 5m 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.

The ban also aimed to impose restrictions on the sale and marketing of vapes to children.

There has been a 50 per cent rise in the last year in Britain in the proportion of children trying vaping, according to research by charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash).

The study found a rise in experimental vaping among 11 to 17-year-olds, from 7.7 per cent in 2022 to 11.6 per cent in 2023.

Last year, environmental campaign group Material Focus found that more than seven million single-use vapes are bought every week in the UK – double the amount bought in 2022.

New laws will reportedly give suppliers a deadline of 1 June 2025 to get rid of all stock across England, with the UK government expecting devolved nations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to follow suit.

As the phase-out of disposable vapes is implemented, new powers will be introduced compelling manufacturers and retailers not to stock flavours designed to entice young people and to house vapes in plainer packaging.

During and after the phase-out, there will also be new rules for retailers on displaying vapes. They will need to keep vapes out of sight of children and position them with other restricted products rather than with items such as sweets.

The health minister Andrew Gwynne said: “It’s deeply worrying that a quarter of 11- to 15-year-olds used a vape last year and we know disposables are the product of choice for the majority of kids vaping today. 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.”

Single-use vapes are not rechargeable or refillable, and are typically discarded as general waste in a bin or littered, rather than recycled.

While vapes can technically be recycled, the process is challenging. Some models need to be dissembled by hand to effectively separate the battery materials, electrical components and different plastics.