The federal government is to ban the sale and provide of single-use vapes by subsequent summer time.
Laws to introduce the ban from 1 June subsequent yr has been specified by parliament, the Division for Setting, Meals and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) confirmed.
Companies could have till the deadline “to sell any remaining stock they hold and prepare for the ban coming into force”, it mentioned.
The UK authorities and devolved governments labored intently on the ban and would “align coming into force dates”, the division added.
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Round financial system minister Mary Creagh mentioned single-use vapes had been “extremely wasteful and blight our towns and cities”.
“That is why we are banning single-use vapes as we end this nation’s throwaway culture,” she mentioned.
“This is the first step on the road to a circular economy, where we use resources for longer, reduce waste, accelerate the path to net zero and create thousands of jobs across the country.”
Thousands and thousands thrown away every week final yr
Final yr it was estimated nearly 5 million single-use vapes had been both littered or thrown away typically waste every week within the UK – nearly 4 instances as a lot because the earlier yr.
DEFRA mentioned vape utilization in England grew by greater than 400% between 2012 and 2023. It mentioned 9.1% of the British public now purchase and use them.
Teenage vape use ‘deeply worrying’
Well being minister Andrew Gwynne mentioned: “It’s deeply worrying that a quarter of 11-15-year-olds used a vape last year and we know disposables are the product of choice for the majority of kids vaping today.
“Banning disposable vapes is not going to solely shield the surroundings, however importantly cut back the attraction of vapes to kids and preserve them out of the palms of susceptible younger individuals.”
Libby Peake, head of resources at Green Alliance, said: “Disposable vapes are the very last thing our kids and the planet want, and for too lengthy the marketplace for them has been allowed to develop unchecked.”
