Waltham Forest Council welcomes government ban on disposable vapes

Waltham Forest Council is welcoming plans to ban unnecessary and unsustainable disposable vapes.  

The Government has announced today (24 October 2024) that the sale and use of single-use disposable vapes will be banned in England from June 2025 to help protect children's health and improve the environment. 

Disposable vapes can have a severe impact on the environment as they are very difficult and expensive to recycle. In fact, the amount of vapes currently thrown away in the UK has risen from 1.3 million per week in 2022, to a staggering five million per week today. Over the course a year, the lithium batteries inside could instead power 5,000 electric 
vehicles. 

As well as damaging the planet, disposable vapes also damage and impact the health and wellbeing of our young people, with branding, flavours and packaging deliberately designed to target a younger audience.

Councillor Clyde Loakes MBE, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate and Air Quality said: “Disposable vapes damage our planet, with the vital resources and valuable metals they contain being depleted at a completely unsustainable rate to serve a completely unnecessary ‘throw away’ industry. 

“In Waltham Forest we remain strongly committed to delivering action to tackle the climate crisis, which is why we lobbied hard for and are strongly backing the government’s announcement to ban disposable vapes. This ban cannot come soon enough."

“Prohibiting the sale and use of disposable vapes will have a hugely positive impact on tackling the climate emergency and protecting the environment for future generations. It will also help to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our young people.

“It’s vital that we deliver a greener future for our residents and move away from a dangerous throwaway culture, in our borough and beyond. We are also supporting action to crack down on other wasteful single-use products such as coffee cups and artificial grass. 

“I’m proud that our ambitious Mission Waltham Forest commitments are delivering for our residents and continuing to provide a blueprint for the capital when it comes to tackling the climate crisis and delivering net zero for by 2030.”