A ban on disposable vape sales is coming into force this weekend.
The ban was first announced last year, with the government encouraging retailers to sell their remaining stock in recent months.
Here, Yahoo News UK explains when and why the ban is happening, who it affects, and what will happen if you’re caught using disposable vapes.
When does the ban start?
A ban on disposable vape sales is coming into force on Sunday (1 June).
Vape users will still be able to buy reusable devices which are both rechargeable and refillable.
Why is there a ban?
The government first announced the ban in October last year. It cited two factors: the environment and young people.
Nature minister Mary Creagh said single-use vapes are “extremely wasteful and blight our towns and cities”, with the ban part of a drive to end the country’s “throwaway culture”.
In 2023, it was estimated five million 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.
Then-health minister Andrew Gwynne also said “disposables are the product of choice for the majority of kids vaping today” and that the ban will “reduce the appeal” of vapes.
A quarter of children between 11 and 15 have tried vaping, according to NHS research.
Experts question impact of ban on usage
University College London research last month suggested the ban will have a “limited impact” on the number of people using vapes.
Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson said: “It seems likely that people using these products will move to reusable versions rather than stop vaping completely.”
Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (Ash), has also questioned whether the ban will reduce use among young people.
She told BBC Breakfast on Friday: “Teenagers weren’t drawn to these products because you could throw them away. They were drawn to them because they were brightly coloured, because they were cheap, and they were really, really available. All of those things will still be true on Sunday.”
Sales of vapes soar head of ban
The government has actively encouraged retailers to sell their remaining stock ahead of the ban.
Dan Marchant, managing director at online retailer Vape Club, claimed its disposable sales have increased between 50% and 100% in recent weeks.
“It’s not surprising that adults who have been relying on these products to remain smoke free are stockpiling ahead of the ban,” he said. “It can take some time to find a replacement product that the user is comfortable with.”
Many vapers have been stocking up ahead of the ban. “I’ve been buying boxes of them from my local discount store,” ex-20-a-day smoker Cara Hallinan told the BBC. “They’re trying to get rid of them, so I’ve been getting 10 vapes for £20.”
Jack Leadbeater, who works at a vape shop in Nottingham, also told the corporation many customers are bulk-buying so “they can have them for as long as possible after the ban”.
One lawmaker has even discussed her stockpiling in parliament. Baroness Claire Fox, known for her association with Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party in the late 2010s, told peers in the House of Lords last month that she is “in dread of 1 June” and accused the government of prioritising the environment over public health.
Which vapes will and won’t be banned?
The government classifies a single-use vape as having a battery you cannot recharge, or is not refillable.
To be reusable, and therefore available for sale from Sunday, a vape must have a rechargeable battery; refillable container that holds the vaping e-liquid; and a removable and replaceable coil if it contains one.
According to one online retailer, the “top brands” offering disposable vales include Elf Bar, Lost Mary, SKE Crystal and IVG.
What will happen if I’m caught using a disposable vape after the ban?
Nothing. Disposable vapes are banned from sale, not use.
This means it will be businesses that are liable if they are caught selling single-use vapes.
The ban applies to shops, manufacturers, wholesalers, importers, healthcare settings and stop smoking services.
In England, any business that fails to comply will face a fine of £200 in the first instance, with any “further infractions” leading to an “unlimited fine” or prosecution.
What are the health impacts of vaping?
According to NHS guidance, vaping “is not completely risk-free, but it poses a small fraction of the risk of smoking cigarettes”. This is because vapes don’t produce tar or carbon monoxide, two harmful elements in tobacco smoke.
It acknowledges evidence that vapers can be “twice as likely to succeed” in stopping smoking as people who use other nicotine replacement products such as gum or patches.
And while liquid and vapour in vapes “contain some potentially harmful chemicals also found in cigarette smoke”, this is at “a much lower level”.
However, vaping has only been widespread for around a decade in the UK – and the guidance states that while it is tightly regulated, any “long-term risks of vaping are not yet clear”.
