Disposable Vape Ban Confirmed For Scotland

Under Rishi Sunak's Conservative Party the UK braced itself for a big shift in the vaping landscape. Under their proposed "Tobacco and Vapes" bill, disposable vapes would be banned by early 2025, with plain packaging and even flavour restirctions laid out to help combat the rise in vaping amongst under-18s.

The 2024 snap general election saw these plans shelved however amidst the ensuing polls, leaving many to wonder what, if any aspects of the bill would be upheld should the Tories fail to remain in power. Now under a Labour Government, Scotland have been the first to announce that their plans remain unchanged, and disposable vapes will still be abnned by 2025 

The Scottish Vaping Ban

Scotland maintains it's position on vaping controls originally laid out in February 2024, despite the pause caused in England by the UK general election.

In February 2024 Scottish MPs laid out their plans to restrict the sale of single use vaping products like Elf Bars and Lost Mary devices in a bid to reduce youth uptake and evironmental challeges. This followed advice given during the ‘Creating a Smokefree Generation and Tackling Youth Vaping’ consultation launched in 2023 by Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party.

There were a number of proposed measures outlined in the debate, including a steadily incresing age-of-sale limit for tobacco products, plain packaging for vapes as well as flavour restirctions, with the most prominent proposition being the banning of disposable vapes. A UK-wide consultation period on the proposed legislaiton followed, running from the 23rd February to the 8th March 2024, giving the general public and those within tobacco related industries the opportunity to give their opinions.

On June 12th 2024 Scottish parliament published their official response to the consultation. They pledged to ban single-use vapes by The 1st of April 2025. This action was mirrored in the definitive Tobacco and Vapes Bill put forward by the conservatives to address multiple acitons required to achive a smoke-free generation, as well as tackle underage vaping and the environmental damage caused by disposable vapes.

When Rishi Sunak announced a general election would take place, the future of these new restrictions was cast into doubt as the bill was shelved pending the outcome of the election.

Despite this setback, Scottish MPs have been the first since the election to readress vape legislation. They have confirmed that in Scotland, disposable vapes will still be banned by April 2025 as previously planned.

While England cites youth uptake as the chief reason behind adressing single-use vapes, Scotland has championed an environmental stance, stating:

"The ban on single-use vapes is being taken forward using powers under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. This approach has been used in the past to ban other items such as microbeads, cotton buds and single use plastics."

"Zero Waste Scotland estimates that up to 26 million disposable vapes were consumed and thrown away in Scotland in the last year, with 10 per cent being littered and more than half disposed of incorrectly. With millions of vapes littered every year, there is a significant and increasing cost to local authorities through litter clear up and waste management. Where vapes are incorrectly disposed of, the batteries increase risk of fires at waste centres and on collection vehicles that can damage equipment paid for by the taxpayer or even be a risk to personal safety."

What Is A Disposable Vape According To Law?

During the public consultation on the proposed disposable vape restrictions, it was unanimously fed-back that establishing an air-tight legal definition of what actually constitutes a disposable vape  would be vital in order to properly police them. 

As stated on the Scottish Gov portal when discussing the repsonses:

"Some responses highlighted concerns 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, that could effectively render devices as single-use."

These concerns are valid, as many disposable vape manufacturers have begun adding charging ports to single-use vape kits, despite them still being impossible to refill or use once the e-liquid inside is consumed. Depsite this the addition of a charge port abused a loopole in the current definition of a disposable vape that meant they might fall outside of the ban.

Arguably the best examples of these loophole devices are "Big Puff" disposable vapes such as the IVG 2400, which is a rechargable device that can house FOUR 2ml pods at once or the 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.

To combat this, a new legal definition has been established to ensure the law captures as many variations of single-use vapes as possible to acieve the inteded results of the ban:

To combat this, a new legal definition has been established to ensure the law captures as many variations of single-use vapes as possible to achieve the inteded results of the ban:

"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 this additional definition combined with the existing, almost every variety of disposable vape should be captured within the legislation. This means authorities will be able to operate much more effectively once a ban comes into effect by April 2025.

What The 2024 UK General Election Means For Vapers

The tobacco and vapes bill sent shockwaves through the vaping industry as retailers and manufacturers began bracing for the proposed changes, which would have seen huge volumes of stock stripped from shelves, as well as possible flavour restrictions and new packaging requirements. This all came to a halt however when Rishi Sunak dissolved Parliament.

When former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak annonced a snap general election, a legislative gold-rush was triggered as MPs scrambled to get the most important bills through parliament before it would have to be dissolved. Despite much fanfare when it was proposed, the Tobacco and Vapes bill was not amongst those that managed to be passed into law before the Conservatives were forced to close shop pending the results of the election.

This meant that all the proposed changes, from raising the age of sale of tobacco each year to banning disposable vapes, were essentially scrapped. While other parties including Labour had shown an interest in the bill, it became unclear which, if any of the propositions would be picked back up should the Conservatives fail to remain in power.

With labour securing a victory in the polls the discussion around vaping law had gone quiet, and vape consumers and businesses alike held our collective breath as we awaited further information.

King Charles' Speech Confirms Vaping Law Will Still Change UK-Wide

King Charles said: “A Bill will be introduced to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes and impose limits on the sale and marketing of vapes.”

Clarity on the future of vaping legislation was finally given by King Charles himself during his speech at the State Opening of Parliament this week (Weds 17th July 2024).

Ushering in the new Labour government, the King stated that his government's legislative programme would be "mission-led". Outlining 39 bills that minsters want to pass in the next parliamentary session.

King Charles confirmed that Labour will introduce a gradual ban on smoking by bringing back the Tobacco and Vapes Bill first announced under Rishi Sunak.

This means that not only will the proposed yearly increase to the age of sale of tobacco products return, but the ban on disposable vapes may return too. The Labour Manifesto does not go into great detail regarding the exact plan, however they 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."

While this does not give vapers much to go on in terms of what to expect, previous comments by Labour MPs when the Conservatives originally proposed the bill allude to their desire to restrict flavours, packaging and sale of certain products. With this in mind we now eagerly await further informaiton about how and when the changes will take place.

The Best Alternatives To Disposable Vaping

While the future of disposable vapes still hangs in the balance, there has never been a better time to consider alternatives to single-use vapes. Thankfully there are plenty of options for you to choose from that replicate the experience without breaking the bank.

As we have preiously explored in our blogs, there are some excellent alterntives to disposable vapes and we have provided plenty of guidance on how to get the most from refillable kits and 10ml bottled vape liquid.

Disposable vapes combine the following elements:

- Convenient fuss-free vaping
- An open draw resistance that produces plenty of vapour
- Intense often fruity flavour combinations
- Smooth yet satisfying nicotine salt e-liquid

You can easily replicate all of these features by combining a refillable pod kit with e-liquid designed to taste and feel just like those found in single-use kits.

Pod kits are small, convenient and easy to use and maintain. Many don't require coil changes, simply replacement pods with built-in coils. They also feature adjustable airflow so you can achieve a like-for-like open draw.

Bar Salt e-liquids like those in our range feature all the same best-selling flavours as leading disposable vape brands, and have smooth nic salts in them to manage cravings effectively.