Mary To Ban Single-Use Vapes

Disposable Vapes will no longer be sold in the UK after 1 June 2025

Last year, almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste every week in the UK, the equivalent of eight being thrown away per second. In 2022, more than 40 tonnes of lithium from single-use vapes was discarded, which is the same amount used to power 5,000 electric vehicles.

Mary confirmed that new legislation to ban the sale of single-use vapes from 1 June 2025 has been laid in Parliament. Single-use vapes are not rechargeable or refillable, and are typically discarded as general waste in a bin or littered, rather than recycled – contributing to a flood of litter on our streets. Even when they are sent to recycling facilities, they usually have to be disassembled by hand – a slow and difficult process which will struggle to keep up with the pace of vape production. Their lithium-ion batteries can also present a fire risk to waste industry workers.

Furthermore, it will stop plastic, lead, and mercury from leaching into the environment, which can cause waterways to be contaminated and poison our wildlife.

Making the sale of single-use vapes illegal, delivers on the Government’s commitment to act on this important issue, and kick-starts the push towards a circular economy and helps to curb the rise of young people taking up vaping, while also protecting our natural environment and town streets from a tide of litter.

The Government has laid legislation to introduce the ban and, subject to parliamentary approval, businesses will have until 1 June 2025 to sell any remaining stock they hold and prepare for the ban coming into force.