LGA calls for ban on disposable vapes

The Local Government Association (LGA) has called for a ban on the sale of disposable vapes on environmental and health grounds by next year.

“Councils urge the Government to take this action to protect our planet, keep children safe and save taxpayers money,” said David Fothergill, chairman of the community wellbeing board for the LGA, which represents councils in England and Wales.

“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,” he added, but said their “fundamentally flawed” design made them so unstable that an outright ban was needed.

The National Association of Waste Disposal Officers has also thrown its support behind the LGA's call for a ban as pressure grows on a waste stream which Materials Focus has estimated sees 1.3 million non-rechargeable devices thrown away each week in the UK.

In response, the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) argued that bans elsewhere have not been effective, accusing councils of putting budgets before health benefits.

Chair John Dunne said: "Experience across the world shows that where blanket bans have been introduced on regulated single-use vapes, there is a massive influx of illegal, untested and potentially deadly black-market products which take their place.

"The negative consequences of these proposals have not been thought through. This looks like a move by the LGA to support cash-strapped councils who do not want to invest in the local authority’s waste management capability required to support smokers transitioning to considerably less harmful vapes.”

Confusion regarding how to safely dispose of the lithium-ion battery devices has compounded the problem, resulting in bans and restrictions elsewhere, including the EU and France, which are considering bans in 2026 and 2023, respectively.

Late last month a review into the issue by Zero Waste Scotland for the Scottish Government recommended implementing design criteria that would effectively remove a number of devices from the market or an outright ban. The report was released after dozens of Scottish councils, joined by environmental and health organisations, requested a ban, citing concerns of pollution, fire safety and the health of young people.

Environmental campaigners south of the border have also called for a ban, while those within the waste sector have urged Defra to upgrade WEEE Regulations to accommodate this new and novel waste stream.

The vaping sector has responded in recent months, with the UKVIA developing a ‘greenprint’ that urges producers to raise awareness of recycling, redesign packaging and start complying with WEEE Regulations.

Waste management firms, including Veolia and Biffa, have since joined vape companies in launching collection and recycling schemes.

Dunne said that local government should consider the cost to the NHS of smoking conventional cigarettes, pointing to research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research that concluded converting smokers to vapers saved the NHS more than £320m a year.

The Government intends to distribute free vape kits as part of its ‘swap to stop’ scheme, aiming to make the UK ‘smoke-free’ by 2030. Others have argued, however, that disposable vapes – in bright colours and varied flavours – are actually attracting new and increasingly young smokers.

Article updated to position of National Association of Waste Disposal Officers on 17/07/23, at 10.21am.