Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to prevent increased quantities of disposable vapes being imported before June 2025.

Single-use vapes are extremely wasteful and blight the streets of our towns and cities.

Banning these vapes will stop them from being thrown into bins with general waste, where they typically end up in landfill or being incinerated, posing a fire risk due to their lithium-ion batteries and can cause poor air quality. Furthermore, it will stop plastic, lead, and mercury from leaching into the environment, which can cause waterways to be contaminated and poison our wildlife.

We are working to ensure that businesses are aware of the obligations that they will have under the single-use vapes supply ban. We are advising that businesses should not be purchasing further single-use vapes and have made this clear in the business guidance we have published which can be viewed here.