Scotland Disposable Vape Ban To Happen in 2025
Before the general election which took place in the UK earlier this month, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was set to come into effect in England in 2025 which would have seen a generational smoking ban alongside disposable vapes being banned from sale.
But with the introduction of a new government, it's uncertain whether a disposable vape ban is still earmarked for England. However, Scotland have confirmed that their ban on the sale of disposable vapes will be coming into effect on April 1st 2025.
We look at what this means for Scotland and whether England are going to follow suit as well as giving our advice to you if you're a disposable vape user and how you can continue to vape after a disposable vape ban as well as save money along the way!
Tobacco and Vapes Bill Scrapped With General Election in England
Last year, the now former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced his government's plans to ban disposable vapes from sale in England as part of the "Tobacco and Vapes Bill".
The ban on disposables was fuelled by the surge in popularity and usage by underage children in the UK coupled with the fact that over 5 million used disposable vapes were being dumped into landfills across the country every single week.
The ban was scheduled to come into effect in 2025 but with the announcement of the dissolution of parliament ahead of a general election taking place in the UK, the Tobacco and Vapes Bill was scrapped because it could not be passed through the House of Commons before the election took place.
Now Labour are in power, it's unconfirmed whether or not they will pick up where the Conservatives left off and bring the Tobacco and Vapes Bill into action, or whether they will draft their own version of the bill. As it stands, there is no set date or even a confirmation that disposable vapes will be banned in England.
However, Scotland has continued to move ahead with their banning of disposable vapes as they recently responded to the end of the consultation period and confirmed a date in the not-so-distant future that spells the end of disposable vapes in the country!
Scotland Confirms Disposable Vape Ban In 2025
Earlier this year (2024) in February, Scotland published legislation banning disposable vapes after taking recommendations from the ‘Creating a Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping’ consultation launched in 2023 by Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party.
In this, they pledged to ban disposable vapes on April 1st 2025 and a consultation period then opened for people with direct and indirect links to the tobacco industry, as well as people with no links at all to have their say on the proposed legislation.
The consultation period ran from 23rd February to 8 March 2024 and on June 12th, the Scottish Government published their response to the answers given during this period.
The takeaway fact from this summary is that they confirmed the disposable vape ban would still be coming into effect on 1st April 2025 as it received unprecedented support from the respondents during the consultation period.
What Is A Single-Use Vape According To Law?
There was concern raised by some of the respondents that manufacturers could circumvent the measure by designing vapes that were not captured by the proposed definition but could still be considered to be disposable or single-use. Specific concerns included limited availability of refill containers or an inability to replace the heating coil, which could effectively render devices as single-use.
This is likely referring to the "Big Puff" disposable vape devices which have been hitting the market and proving to be popular amongst disposable vape users. These devices such as the IVG 2400, which is a rechargable device that can house FOUR 2ml pods at once or Elf Bar AF500 which has a 10ml bottle attached to the device that feeds and refills the "tank" as you vape.
These devices have received a lot of criticism from vaping advocacy groups as they appear to have been designed in a way that deviates from the 2ml tank restriction which was imposed by the TPD regulations in 2017. Scotland now look to clamp down and rid these from shelves with their new definition of what a single-use vape is.
"To require that that vapes should be able to be refillable by an individual user in the normal course of use, and to require that a replacement heating coil is separately available and is replaceable by an individual user in the normal course of use."
With these definitions being part of the legislation, we are now entering a "last days of Rome" period for big and small puff disposable vape devices as they cannot be refilled nor do they have changeable coils.
Are Labour Going To Ban Disposable Vapes?
As we mentioned, Labour are now in power and when the original Tobacco and Vapes Bill was put forward by the Conservatives. Labour voiced their support for the bill and vowed to carry this through should they win the General Election.
They have only been in power for 2 weeks, so it is still very early days for anything to come to light on this matter. Upon reading their Manifesto which was published in the run up to the general election however, it does highlight their intentions regarding smoking and vaping legislations in the UK. To quote:
"Labour will ensure the next generation can never legally buy cigarettes and ensure all hospitals integrate ‘opt-out’ smoking cessation interventions into routine care."
"Labour will ban vapes from being branded and advertised to appeal to children to stop the next generation from becoming hooked on nicotine."
Whilst Labour appear to share the same desire to raise the legal smoke age as the Conservatives, the only mention of vapes in their manifesto was to stop them being branded and advertised, with no direct mention of disposable vapes.
With Scotland setting a date and continuing on with a disposable vape ban, we speculate that this may set the precedent for England to follow suit.
How To Vape If Disposable Vapes Are Banned
You may be reading this as a disposable user and want to know what's next for you if/when disposable vapes get banned and how you will be able to continue to vape without access to the devices you've been relying on to abstain from smoking tobacco products.
We've written a separate blog on this subject which gives advice on how to prepare for the disposable vape ban, but we will go over some of the key points here as well.
Did you know the monthly costs of using disposable vapes as your sole vape device can work out 5 times more expensive than using a refillable vape kit?
With the average disposable vape costing around £6 per device and Big Puff disposable vapes costing up to £14 per device, the costs soon add up and make it a very expensive way to vape.
Buying a refillable vape starter kit is an inexpensive way to begin the transition away from disposables and we have many options available here at LiQuid such as the Aspire R1 (see below) which is designed to replicate the experience of using a disposable vape. The major benefit vs a disposable being that it is refillable with vape juice of your choice, it's also rechargeable.
If you enjoy using disposable vapes for the rich flavours of the vape juice used in them, then you'll love our range of Bar Salts nic salt vape juices as these have been inspired by the most popular disposable vape flavours and our experts have put their own spin on them to make an exceptionally tasty vape juice range!
