Illustration by Dulce Maria Pop-Bonini
UK Bans Vapes
The U.K. government expects to implement a ban on the sale of disposable vapes in the following year.
Nov 3, 2024
According to the U.K. government, new legislation to ban the sale and supply of single-use vapes in England and Wales will be enforced starting June 1, 2025. This information was announced by the Circular Economy minister Mary Creagh as of Oct. 24..
The main reasons stress the issues regarding littering, excessive amounts of waste, the laborious efforts required to disassemble the products in recycling facilities, and reducing underage consumption. Not to mention the risks of ignitions caused by the lithium-ion batteries.
The government stated that in 2022, more than 40 tons of lithium from single-use vapes were found after being thrown away.
BBC News addressed the numbers concerning the situation. In total, around 5.1 million single-use vapes were consumed in the country in 2023; 16% of these were between 16 and 24 years old. Around 6% of 16-year-olds vaped every day, while 4% vaped occasionally. And 8% of underage between 11 and 17 years old vaped based on an online survey by health charity Action on Smoking and Health.
A few days ago, BBC News reported that Ministers in England had in fact announced this course of action in January.
Later on March 20 of this year, the U.K. government proposed the Tobacco and Vapes Bill after examining the statistics regarding consumption during the year 2023.
Nevertheless, the director general of the U.K. Vaping Industry Association John Dunne expressed his concern that banning vapes could “fuel illegal sales”, leading to the sale of these products in the black market.
Isabella Hernandez is a Deputy News Editor. Email them at feedback@thegazelle.org.
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