The government announces when the sale of disposable vapes will be BANNED

The government said the sale of disposable vapes will be banned until next summer.

New legislation banning the sale of single-use vapes from June 1, 2025 has been tabled in Parliament, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) confirmed on Wednesday. It added that companies have until the deadline to “sell their remaining inventory and prepare for the ban to come into effect.”

Defra said the UK and devolved governments had worked closely together on the ban and would “align the dates for entry into force”. Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said single-use vapes were “extremely wasteful and damaging our towns and cities”.

READ MORE: Strangeways here we go: The men are released from prison

Ms Creagh added: “That’s why we’re banning single-use vapes, ending this nation’s throwaway culture. “This is the first step towards a circular economy where we use resources for longer, reduce waste, move towards net zero accelerate and create thousands of jobs across the country.”

Last year, it was estimated that almost five million single-use vaporizers were either thrown away or disposed of in general waste every week in the UK – almost four times as many as the previous year. According to Defra, e-cigarette use in England increased by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, with 9.1% of the British public now buying and using the products.

Health Minister Andrew Gwynne said: “It is deeply worrying that a quarter of 11 to 15 year olds used an e-cigarette device last year and we know that most children who smoke e-cigarettes today use disposables .” Banning disposable vapes not only protects the environment, but more importantly reduces the appeal of vapes to children and prevents them from ending up in the hands of vulnerable young people.

“The Government will also introduce the Tobacco and Vaping Act – the biggest public health measure in a generation – which will protect young people from nicotine addiction and pave the way for a smoke-free Britain.”

On Monday, Health Minister Wes Streeting pledged to tighten smoking laws with a “more ambitious” bill than the Conservatives. The tobacco and e-cigarettes bill introduced in the last parliament aimed to stop anyone born after January 1, 2009, from smoking legally by gradually increasing the age at which tobacco can be purchased.

The aim was also to restrict the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes to children. Mr Streeting told reporters at a health facility in east London on Monday: “We will introduce the tobacco and e-cigarettes bill before Christmas.”

Libby Peake, head of resources at Green Alliance, said: “Disposable vapes are the last thing our children and the planet need, and for too long the market for them has been allowed to grow unchecked.”