From Sunday, June 1, single use vapes will be banned across the whole of the UK to reduce the environmental harm caused by their production and incorrect disposal.
Keep Wales Tidy estimates that over just one year, 360,000 single use vapes are littered on the ground in Wales, while 120,000 are flushed down the toilet.
Littering spoils our communities, introduces harmful substances into soil, rivers and streams, and causes harm to biodiversity.
The move follows a Welsh Government commitment to ‘embed our response to the climate and nature emergency in everything we do’.
Deputy First Minister, with responsibility for Climate Change, Huw Irranca-Davies said: “Single-use vapes create litter and plastic pollution; this ban will help stop the serious harm these products cause to our wildlife and environment.
“They should be recycled at a vape shop, or taken to a local authority recycling centre, to be disposed of safely. Vapes should never go in the bin as they are susceptible to catching fire.”
Keep Wales Tidy Chief Executive, Owen Derbyshire said:
“We warmly welcome Welsh Government’s decision to ban single use vapes – something we’ve been calling for in recent years. Nearly half of all clean-ups undertaken by our volunteers last year found these harmful products. They’re a blight on our communities, a danger to wildlife, and near impossible to recycle. It’s great to see this level of ambition from government, alongside a clear commitment to tackling the broader litter problem at source.”
Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Sarah Murphy added: “In addition to the environmental impacts, we know single-use vapes are being used by children and young people and are a factor in the significant increases in youth vaping that we have seen in recent years.
“The single-use vape ban being introduced will help us to protect children and young people from vape products so that they never start vaping and avoid the harms caused by nicotine addiction.”
Around 2,000 affected small- and medium-sized retailers across Wales have received hard-copy information from the Welsh Government advising them of the upcoming ban and actions they need to take.
Businesses which sell single-use vapes must offer a take-back recycling service for customers to bring back their used vapes, pods or batteries, and dispose of any leftover single-use vapes correctly.
