Banning disposable vapes is a victory but not the end of the problem – Inside track

Something to celebrate is happening. It’s a moment we’ve long called for. From 1 June, disposable vapes are banned across the UK.

To get right into the nerdy details, these devices have been banned using powers under section 140 of Environmental Protection Act 1990. That gives the secretary of state for the environment “power to prohibit … any specified substance or article if he considers it appropriate to do so for the purpose of preventing the substance or article from causing pollution of the environment or harm to human health or to the health of animals or plants.” I’ve long thought there was never a product more appropriate for that particular power than a disposable vape.

It was a rock solid case
Causing harm in just one area would be enough, but these dangerous devices ticked all the boxes: polluting the environment and harming human, animal and plant health. On the environmental front, they’re often made of plastic, which we know is a damaging pollutant. And on a more tangential green note, they also waste vital limited resources like lithium and copper that are much better used for things like EV batteries and charging stations. Material Focus’s most recent estimates suggests that lithium inside discarded vapes over the past year could have powered over 10,000 EVs.

The health of animals and plants will be protected ban, too, as carelessly chucked away disposable vapes can release nicotine into the environment, which has been used as a pesticide in the past, similar to controversial neonicotinoids, which have been outlawed as a bee-killer. Groups like the RSPCA and the Marine Conservation Society campaigned for the ban because of the threat they posed to wildlife from ingestion and habitat destruction.

Which leaves ‘harm to human health’. Here, I think, is where the greatest moral strength of the joint environmental-health campaigning came in. Disposable vapes, unlike their original, reusable counterparts designed to help people quit smoking, are made to attract children, with colourful casings and sweet flavours. Their rise corresponded with an alarming rise in children using vapes, leading many health experts to warn that we were creating a whole new generation hooked on nicotine. It’s why no less authority on children’s wellbeing than the Royal College of Paediatrics and Children’s Health called for a ban, warning they were becoming an epidemic among young people and that Westminster was sleepwalking into a crisis.

I can’t think of another product for which the government had a more rock solid case to use its Environmental Protection Act powers.

So, is this job done? Sadly, not quite.

Industry is already finding ways around the ban
This ban has been a long time coming. It was originally proposed in January 2024 by the previous government, using the same powers, but the draft legislation ran out of time when the election was called. So, there was a delay in the new government confirming it would pick it up, and then going through all the statutory processes, aligning timelines with devolved administrations and allowing traders six months to sell off stocks.

Unsurprisingly, an industry with profits at stake has not been sitting on its hands, waiting to be wound down. In the interim, it has found new ways to get cheap vapes onto the market. They have been busy creating ‘reusable’ versions that are also brightly coloured and sweet, and are remarkably similar to the now banned disposables – and plenty of them are bound to be littered or thrown away, sadly.

Crucially, the industry has been figuring out how to make vaping cheaper and cheaper, as well. Reusable versions of popular disposables are now similarly priced, but of particular concern is the new type of ‘Big Puff’ vape, which can hold 100 times more puffs per vape than a disposable. Material Focus has warned about them, noting that each puff comes in at just 0.19p, compared to .83p for a single use vape, making them particularly popular amongst the young, who are particularly influenced by price.

The government should use new powers to do more
So, what’s the government to do in the face of such insidious innovation? Like the vaping industry it should not sit on its hands following this ban, but urgently fighting the next battle. The good news is some of this is already underway.

A new bill, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, currently making its way through parliament will eventually make it illegal for anyone born after 2009 to buy tobacco. But it will also make it illegal to advertise vapes anywhere or for vape companies to enter sponsorship deals, as is currently the case with tobacco. This is great news as we know young people are especially susceptible to marketing. Over half of all children have noticed vapes being promoted in shops, and nearly a third say they have seen online promotions. According to ASH, only one in five children now say they have never seen vapes promoted. Often the advertising seen sells vaping as an aspirational lifestyle choice completely unrelated to the original intent of smoking cessation.

The bill will also give the government powers to regulate flavours, packaging and display of vapes. However, this is several steps away from real change. Given how clearly the flavours (like bubblegum, doughnut, banana and custard) and bright colours clearly geared to young people, we’re urging the government to follow up quickly and set out its plans to use its new powers. If it doesn’t, the UK will fall behind other countries, including China where, many vapes are made, but where fruity flavours have been banned for years.

That brings us on to the price, which is where Treasury, too, has been taking action. As vaping can help people stop smoking – and as that is still the far greater health risk – it’s clearly important that reusable vapes remain cheaper than smoking. But currently, they’re as much as eight times cheaper, according to Vape Club UK and ‘Big Puff’ could further alter the landscape. The government has announced that from October 2026 there will, for the first time, be a flat rate tax of £2.20 per 10ml of vape fluid. This is good, not least as research in America suggests such taxes result in “significant” reductions in child vaping.

This still feels like a long way off, giving plenty of time for businesses to expand the cheap reusable market and seek ways to dodge regulations, and continue damaging the health of the environment and young people.

Sunday 1 June is a date to celebrate for health and environmental protection, but not to rest on our laurels yet.