ASH Welcomes Disposables Ban
Anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health are delighted that the control of the teen vape market is to be handed over to the unregulated black market
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by Dave Cross
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Anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) says that health, waste and enforcement organisations have embraced the Government’s decision to ban the importation and sale of disposable vapes from the 1st June 2025. ASH says it has worked collaboratively with Material Focus and Chartered Trading Standards Institute “to raise concerns about the impact of these single-use products on the environment and their links to the increase in teen vaping.”
The Government confirmed the ban last week – but ASH says it “is unlikely on its own to be sufficient” in addressing environmental impact and teen vaping. But, it adds, it “is a welcome indication of the Government’s intention to address the problems in the vaping market and is backed by the public with 77% supporting the measure.”
ASH Chief Executive Hazel Cheeseman commented: “When there is a viable alternative to disposable products the Government is right to push ahead with this ban. The public are fed up of [sic] seeing disposable vapes littered across our communities and the proposed regulations are already driving changes in the market with more reusable versions of popular disposable brands being sold.
“However, while the ban is an important show of intention from the government, without further product and branding regulations this ban will be insufficient to address the popularity of vapes among teenagers. The Government must introduce the proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill swiftly.”
Referring to the ecigs concerned as “so-called disposable or single use vapes”, ASH state they pose “a major waste problem with products not being disposed of correctly and too few being recycled.”
The charity contends that vape eWaste will be reduced if more people switch to reusable devices.
“However, more must be done to ensure producers take responsibility for the environmental impact of their products and ensure recycling happens,” it says.
ASH didn’t comment on the fact that Trading Standards is barely scraping the tip of the current black market or the impact of bans causing gang violence and murder in Australia.
Scott Butler, Executive Director of Material Focus, made his plea for money: “When a disposable vape ban comes in, vapes still do need a special category under environmental regulations, which would allow the government to set clear collection targets and can only help in the move to get those profiting from vapes to cover the costs of dealing with them. Too many companies are currently dodging their share of £200 million/year responsibility for collection and recycling.
“In our research 5 million single-use vapes are currently binned or littered every week in the UK creating a staggering amount of waste. With the ban due to come into place, this means 150 million vapes will be thrown away, losing all the precious materials contained in vapes forever such as lithium and posing fire risks. For those that vape, they should never bin them, or any electrical item, and instead take them back to where they bought them from. And if that retailer refuses, go to your next retailer or go to the recycle your electricals postcode locator to find the nearest place to recycle.”
While Trading standards officers will be enforcing the disposables ban, little has been said about the huge cost of post-ban enforcement.
Kate Pike, Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said: “The regulations will give trading standards the powers to ensure retailers comply with the law. Additional funding to resource these new powers will also be necessary and we look forward to the outcome of the spending review and confirmation that this funding will be available.”
The Mental Health and Smoking Partnership is a coalition of public health and mental health charities working to reduce the much higher rates of smoking among people with mental health conditions. While they welcome the ban they say that mental health services and their patients may need additional support to transition away from disposable products. Research from University College London and Kings College London says they number among the groups who will be disproportionately affected.
Chair of the Partnership and Chief Executive of the Mental Health Foundation, Mark Rowland, said: “We welcome action to curb youth vaping and address environmental concerns but the most vulnerable groups of smokers must not be forgotten. Smokers with mental health conditions are more likely to be using disposable vapes currently and many inpatient mental health setting will only allow disposable vapes to be used. The NHS needs to support trusts and patients to transition to reusable products and ensure more people are supported to stop smoking.”
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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