[Image Description] a wooden bench with two small disposable vapes resting on it. One vape is red, and the other one is blue. The bench is outdoors, and in the background, there is green grass and some trees.
Are you partial to a cherry cola vape?
Well, if you are living in England, soon getting hold of one could be illegal. The ban on disposable vapes will come into force on the 1st of June 2025. Under this new bill, there will also be an outright ban on smoking for anyone born after January 2009.
Vapes are being banned because of the significant health complications and environmental issues they bring to England.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reported that in England, the use of vapes increased by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023. They also found that the number of people who started vaping without ever having smoked before has rapidly risen.
The government is concerned that the majority of people buying and using vapes are young adults, with many aged between 11 and 15 years.
It is illegal to sell vapes to anyone under the age of 18. However, since disposable vapes are small and often sold in bright and colorful packaging, there is a clear reason young people are drawn to them.
Public Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said in an Interview with the BBC that banning disposable vapes would "reduce the appeal of vapes to children and keep them out of the hands of vulnerable young people."
While vaping is said to be healthier than smoking, the NHS stresses that it has not been around long enough for its long-term risks to be fully understood.
Environmentally, disposable vapes pose a problem as they do not decompose and are difficult to recycle. The batteries inside can leak harmful substances like lithium and battery acid into the environment.
Batteries disposed of in household bins have been known to cause fires in bin lorries and waste centres every year. It was estimated that five million disposable vapes were either found as litter or in general waste every week in 2023. That’s almost quadruple the number from 2022.
DEFRA’s Circular Economy Minister, Mary Creagh, said to the BBC they want to ban disposables to "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 UK seems to be hopping on the trend after New Zealand, South Korea, India, Brazil, and Australia already have vaping restrictions in place.
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