Why is disposable veps being banned and how harmful is it?

From Sunday, it would be illegal for businesses to sell or supply disposable waps.
The government hopes that the ban will reduce environmental damage caused by equipment and help in cutting the number of children and youth.
How are the rules changing about VAPE?
Disposable Weaps Ban
From 1 June 2025Businesses will be banned from selling or supply to any single-use vapes, whether in shops or online.
Retailers caught breaking the law in England, for repeated crimes, a minimum of £ 200 was imposed with a jail sentence of up to two years. Penalty is roughly similar in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Trading standard will be able to seize any single-use vep.
Only the devices that are considered reusable will be legal. This means that they should have a rechargeable battery, a changed coil, and should be refillable.
After June 1, it would not be illegal to own the disposable wap. Customers can still return them, and retailers have the responsibility to get rid of them.
Wapping tax
VAPING products are already subject to 20% VAT, but unlike tobacco, they currently do not attract a separate additional tax.
A new vapping duty will begin 1 October 2026It will be charged at a flat rate of £ 2.20 per 10 ml volatile liquid.
At the same time, tobacco duty will be increased to preserve financial encouragement for cigarette smokers.
Advertising and sponsorship restrictions
The government’s tobacco and vapes bill – which is currently making its way through Parliament – will underline VAPE advertising and sponsorship.
It will also restrict the taste, packaging and performance of vapes and other nicotine products.
The British Medical Association has warned that children have been targeted with bubble gum or candy floss such as colors, branding and flavor with bubble gum or candy floss, which can cause nicotine addiction.
Illegal vapor
The government is also decreasing on ilegal vapes, which are widely available and have more likely to other harmful chemicals or drugs.
According to the BBC analysis, more than six million illegal volatile products were seized by officials of trade standards across England between 2022 and 2024.
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Why are disposable vep so bad for the environment?
Disposable veps were banned to deal with their impact on the environment.
According to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DFRA), about five million single-use vapors were thrown in 2023 each week.
Also, lithium-ion batteries, vapes also have circuit boards. If they are not properly dealt, they can leak toxic compounds such as cobalt and copper.
This means that fish, and sea mammals can make the mistake of vapes for food and swallow toxic chemicals.
The Local Government Association (LGA) also states that single-utilized veps “is a threat to garbage and garbage collection and the cause of fire in bin lories”.
However, recycling disposable veps is not straightforward due to their size and the way they produce, making them difficult to separate.
These minerals and lithium – if recovered – can be reused for green technologies in an electric car battery or wind turbine.
There is currently no large -scale disposable vep recycling in the UK. There are many different types of vapes on the market that is difficult to develop a standard recycling process.
How many children and adults are there?
According to a 2024 survey by Health Charity Ash (Action on Smoking and Health), about 18% of 11 to 17-year-old children (980,000 children) have tried evaporation.
About 7% (390,000 children) said they are currently below 8% in 2023, but are still above the 4% figure recorded in 2020.
In contrast, more than 5% of 11 to 17-year-old children (280,000 children) said that they currently smoke, while only 3% (150,000 children) said they both smoke and are in a pap.
In over 16 age groups, the use of vapes has increased, with about 5.1 million people use VAPE or E-Cigarettes in 2023.
The National Statistics (ONS) for the office says that 5.9% of the age of 16 and volatile every day, slightly above the previous year, while the other 3.9% did so.
The highest -rate group of VAPE – about 16% – had children aged 16–24.

How harmful are for children and adults?
VAPING Smoking is nowhere as harmful as cigarettes, with a series of tobacco, tar and other toxic cancer -causing chemicals, and is one of the biggest preventive causes of illness and death in the UK.
But because Veping itself can cause long damage to the lungs, hearts and brain, it is only trying to leave the NHS “Swap to Stop” program for adult smokers.
Vapor inheld contains small amounts of chemicals, which often contain addictive substances nicotine.
The Department of Health and Social Care said, “Veps can be an effective way to quit adult smokers – but we have always been clear that children and adults should never deprive non -smoothiers.”
More research is required to fully understand the effects of VAPING, but in December 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that “dangerous evidence” was increasing about the damage caused by it.
In February 2025, the government said that the £ 62M research project would track 100,000 eight to 18 years old for a decade to better understand the risks.
