Northampton vape store owner welcomes the ban on disposables
Ryan Michlig of Right Vape says he's delighted about the ban which comes in Sunday 1 June
The sale of disposable vapes will be banned in the UK from Sunday 1 June, including products which do not contain nicotine.
The ban on selling or supplying disposable vapes, announced in January last year, applies both in shops and online.
Vapes have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, with usage growing by more than 400% between 2012 and 2023, according to the government.
"This ban will not be the end of those products, but it's definitely a start."
Ryan Michlig runs Right Vape in Northampton, who also offer stop smoking and stop vaping services, says he's delighted with the ban:
"They were making disposables 11 years ago and I remember thinking well, this is a waste and they took about six years to get going."
Ryan feels they were popularised after seeing an influx of single use products during COVID, when vape stores closed.
He welcomes the ban for environmental reasons, but also feels it could be the start of a conversion around educating young people not to take up vaping:
"This is just the beginning. It will give us a platform to start to be able to educate better because we do have a line in the sand now.
"Everything now that is single use, however you procured it, is illegal. So that gives us a really firm line for us to be able to start educating and talking to young people. And then, you know educating retailers, resellers."
He's flagged illegal products to Trading Standards in the past and says he hopes they are given the needed support to enforce the new rules.
But he still feels it could be a decade before we see an end of single-use vapes:
"I would say to any policy maker, this ban will not be the end of those products, but it's definitely a start."
Why are single-use vapes being banned?
The UK-wide ban is designed to tackle waste and the impact of vapes on the environment who say they are "an inefficient use of critical resources" with many often discarded as litter or thrown into residual (non-recycled) waste.
As well as the waste and harm to the environment, they can also cause fires, which risks the safety of waste management workers, firefighters and the public.
Analysis by Material Focus released in December showed an estimated 8.2 million vapes were being thrown away or littered every week in the UK - the equivalent of 13 per second.
The government has also said it hopes the ban will make vaping less accessible to children, as statistics show a growing popularity among those aged 11 to 15.
NHS figures from last year showed nearly a quarter of children in that age bracket had tried vaping and nearly one in 10 did it frequently.
Recent research suggests that people in the East Midlands use disposables the most, spending more than £50 per week on them.
What will happen after 1 June?
Local authority Trading Standards will lead on enforcing the ban in England with people concerned about their sale urged to contact Trading Standards.
Trading Standards will be able to seize any single-use vapes they find and issue a stop notice as well as a fine of £200.
Continue to supply after that could result in a prison sentence of 2 years, an unlimited fine or both.
If you want to find a local NHS stop smoking service you can find one here.