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Peter Dazeley\/ Getty Creative<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nFrom Sunday, it will be illegal for businesses to sell or supply disposable vapes. <\/p>\n The government hopes the ban will reduce environmental damage caused by the devices and help cut the number of children and young people vaping.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Disposable vapes ban<\/b><\/p>\n From 1 June 2025<\/b>, businesses will be banned from selling or supplying any single-use vapes, whether that’s in shops or online.<\/p>\n Retailers caught breaking the law in England face a minimum \u00a3200 fine, with a prison sentence of up to two years for repeat offences. Penalties are broadly similar in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. <\/p>\n Trading Standards will be able to seize any single-use vapes they find.<\/p>\n Only devices considered to be reusable will be legal. That means that they must have a rechargeable battery, a replaceable coil, and be refillable.<\/p>\n It won’t be illegal to own a disposable vape after 1 June. Customers can still return them, and retailers have an obligation to get rid of them.<\/p>\n Vaping tax<\/b><\/p>\n Vaping products are already subject to 20% VAT but, unlike tobacco, they do not currently attract a separate additional tax.<\/p>\n A new vaping duty will start on 1 October 2026<\/b>. It will be charged at a flat rate of \u00a32.20 per 10ml vaping liquid.<\/p>\n At the same time, tobacco duty will be increased to preserve the financial incentive for cigarette smokers to switch to vaping.<\/p>\n Advertising and sponsorship ban<\/b><\/p>\n The government’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill – which is currently making its way through Parliament – will outlaw vape advertising and sponsorship.<\/p>\n It will also restrict the flavours, packaging and display of vapes and other nicotine products. <\/p>\n Children have been targeted with colours, branding and flavours such as bubble gum or candy floss, to push a product that can lead to nicotine addiction, the British Medical Association has warned.<\/p>\n Illegal vapes<\/b><\/p>\n The government is also cracking down on iIlegal vapes, which are widely available and are much more likely to contain other harmful chemicals or drugs.<\/p>\n More than six million illegal vaping products were seized by Trading Standards officers across England between 2022 and 2024, according to analysis by the BBC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The ban on disposable vapes was introduced to tackle their impact on the environment.<\/p>\n Almost five million single-use vapes were thrown away each week in 2023, according to the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra).<\/p>\n As well as lithium-ion batteries, vapes also contain circuit boards. If these aren’t not disposed of properly, they can leak toxic compounds such as cobalt and copper.<\/p>\n That means fish, and marine mammals could mistake vapes for food and ingest poisonous chemicals.<\/p>\n The Local Government Association (LGA), also says that single-use vapes are “a hazard for waste and litter collection and cause fires in bin lorries”.<\/p>\n However, recycling disposable vapes is not straightforward because of their size and the way they are manufactured, which makes them difficult to take apart.<\/p>\n These minerals and the lithium could – if recovered – be reused for green technologies such as electric car batteries or in wind turbines.<\/p>\n There is currently no large-scale disposable vape recycling in the UK. There are so many different types of vape on the market that it is difficult to develop a standard recycling process.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Around 18% of 11 to 17-year-olds (980,000 children) have tried vaping, according to a 2024 survey by health charity ASH (Action on Smoking and Health).<\/p>\n About 7% (390,000 children) said they currently vaped, down from 8% in 2023, but still well above the 4% figure recorded in 2020.<\/p>\n In contrast, just over 5% of 11 to 17-year-olds (280,000 children) said they currently smoked, while just under 3% (150,000 children) said they both smoked and vaped.<\/p>\n Among all age groups over 16, the use of vapes has risen, with about 5.1 million people using a vape or e-cigarette in 2023. <\/p>\n The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says 5.9% of people aged 16 and over vaped every day, up slightly from the previous year, while another 3.9% did so occasionally.<\/p>\n The group with the highest rate of vape use – nearly 16% – was 16-24 year-olds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Vaping is nowhere near as harmful as smoking cigarettes, which contain tobacco, tar and a range of other toxic cancer-causing chemicals, and is one of the largest preventable causes of illness and death in the UK.<\/p>\n But because vaping may itself cause long-term damage to lungs, hearts and brains, it is only recommended for adult smokers trying to quit as part of the NHS “swap to stop” programme.<\/p>\n The vapour inhaled contains a small amount of chemicals, often including the addictive substance nicotine.<\/p>\n “Vapes can be an effective way for adult smokers to quit – but we have always been clear that children and adult non-smokers should never vape,” the Department of Health and Social Care has said.<\/p>\n More research is needed to fully understand the effects of vaping, but in December 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned “alarming evidence” was growing about the damage it causes.<\/p>\n In February 2025, the government said a \u00a362m research project would track 100,000 eight to 18-year-olds for a decade to better understand the risks. <\/p>\n<\/div>\nHow are the rules about vapes changing?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Why are disposable vapes so bad for the environment?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
How many children and adults vape?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Getty<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\nHow harmful are vapes to children and adults? <\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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