Disposable Ban Clamour Grows
The Association representing national councils in England and Wales has issued a call for all disposable vapes to be banned “on environmental and health grounds”
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by Dave Cross
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The LGA said it is crucial that that ban comes into effect rapidly, as with the EU proposing a ban in 2026 and France rolling out a ban in Dec 2023, there is a risk that as markets close disposable vapes will flood into the UK.
The Association says that disposable vapes pose a hazard for waste and litter collection and cause fires in bin lorries.
“Single use vapes are designed as one unit so batteries cannot be separated from the plastic, making them almost impossible to recycle without going through special treatment. The lithium batteries inside the plastic can sharply increase in temperature if crushed and can become flammable,” the LGA says.
“This comes at a cost to the council taxpayer through fire damage to equipment and the specialist treatment needed to deal with hazardous waste,” it continues. “With 1.3 million disposable vapes thrown away every week, they have also become a regular and obvious item of litter on our streets.”
The councils are also said to be concerned about the impact vaping is having upon children and young people.
“It is worrying that more and more children – who have never smoked – are starting vaping,” claims the LGA.
“Councils are especially concerned by the marketing of vapes with designs and flavours that could appeal to children, in particular those with fruity and bubble gum flavours, and colourful child-friendly packaging. Strict new measures to regulate the display and marketing of regular vaping products in the same way as tobacco are needed.”
Councillor David Fothergill, the Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board said: “Councils are not anti-vapes, which are shown to be less harmful than smoking and have a place as a tool to use in smoking cessation.
“However, disposable vapes are fundamentally flawed in their design and inherently unsustainable products, meaning an outright ban will prove more effective than attempts to recycle more vapes.
“Single use vapes blight our streets as litter, are a hazard in our bin lorries, are expensive and difficult to deal with in our recycling centres. Their colours, flavours and advertising are appealing to children and the penalties for retailers selling them don’t go far enough.
“Councils urge the Government to take this action to protect our planet, keep children safe and save taxpayers money.”
The announcement followed a week after Dr Caroline Johnson repeated her demand for similar action in the House of Commons. Responses to this call for a ban will be covered later in the week.
References:
- The Local Government Association – https://www.local.gov.uk/
Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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