There has been a lot of media coverage, and political engagement with the Ban Disposable Vapes campaign so far, however there is always more pressure to be added. The more people who reach out to their MPs, and local representatives like councillors, the more we will gather momentum. Below is some helpful text you can use to send an email, or use as notes, for contacting your local representatives.
Copy this and send to your MP and/or councillors.
Find out who your MP is, and what their email address is here. Then to find your local council and councillors email addresses, click here.
Email subject: Ban Disposable Vapes
Dear _________________ ,
I am writing, as one of your constituents, to let you know about an issue which is becoming increasingly important; single-use disposable vapes. I believe that it is vital we ban these disposable electronic devices, for environmental and public heath reasons.
There has been much attention brought to this issue in recent months, with significant media coverage and political engagement. So far in Westminster we have had written and oral questions put to the Government asking about the environmental impact of these devices, alongside debates and evidence hearings in late 2022 and early 2023. The UK Government has also indicated it's wishes to ban these items, however we must ensure this is followed through with robust policy. In the nations, we have also had the Scottish Government commission and publish an urgent review on the environmental impacts, and are considering a ban and have had several councils write to the Government in support of a ban.
Importantly, we now have all councils in England and Wales through the LGA calling for a ban on disposable vapes, alongside the majority of Scottish councils.
Below are some notes as background to the issue.
Unfortunately, the UK Government has not previously undertaken an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes in the UK, as revealed by Trudy Harrison after a question from Kirsten Oswald. DEFRA released the findings from the consultation on single-use plastic items, but admits failing to take into account disposable vaping products.
I would very much appreciate if you could spare time to read these notes and acknowledge receipt of this letter. I would be interested to know your thoughts on this issue, and whether you would be able to support this ban on disposable vaping products.
You can also watch the parliamentary panel on the banning of disposable e-vapes hosted by the Environment APPG from April 17th, and the parliamentary evidence hearing on youth vaping from the Health and Social Care committee on June 28th.
If you have any questions, please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Yours,
Name: ____________________
House Number: ______
Postcode: ____________
Key statistics:
5 million disposable vapes are thrown away weekly in the UK, meaning a substantial quantity of plastic and lithium, this is up from 1.3 million (2 thrown away per second) in 2022. [2]
Every disposable vape contains 0.15g of lithium. This means at least 10 tonnes of lithium end up in landfill each year. That’s enough to power 1,200 electric car batteries (based on the 2022 1.3 million thrown away per week stat). [6]
Disposable vapes contain a lithium ion battery which poses a significant fire risk to both waste facilities, bin lorries, and homes.
Background information:
In an open letter to the Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey and Health Secretary Steve Barclay, eighteen environment and health groups, including Green Alliance, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Marine Conservation Society and RSPCA, demand the government ban the sale of single-use e-cigarettes to stem their “rapidly escalating threat” to public health and the environment. [1]
The demand follows research from Material Focus earlier in the year that showed that at least 5 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week, equating to eight vapes per second, enough to cover 88 football pitches per year. [2]
The groups argue that disposable vapes are “unnecessary electrical items” that contain single-use plastic, nicotine and batteries, all of which are “hazardous to the environment and wildlife when littered”.
The products also contain lithium, which is a critical material for the net zero transition, such as in the manufacture of electric vehicles. The ten tonnes of lithium discarded from disposable vapes each year is the same as needed for 1,200 electric vehicles. [3]
Uptake of disposable vapes among young people is “particularly concerning”, write the groups, with a seven-fold increase in the percentage of 11 to 17 year olds opting for disposable products since 2021. [4]
Rather than helping existing smokers to give up the habit, multiple health professionals have warned that disposable vapes risk creating a new generation hooked on nicotine, with emerging evidence showing there could be an increased risk of chronic lung conditions. [5]
As reusable vapes are available and accessible, banning single-use e-cigarettes would not inhibit public health efforts to enable people to quit smoking or the government’s commitment to achieve a smoke-free generation by 2030.
Libby Peake, head of resource policy at Green Alliance, said:
“We need to be moving towards durable and reusable products designed sustainably, not inventing new ways to cause harm to the wildlife and wasting valuable resources. Ministers must act swiftly to ban disposable vapes to protect young people and our environment from this new and entirely avoidable threat.”
Dr Honey Smith, director and co-chair of the National Leads group of Greener Practice, said:
“As a GP I see the effects of smoking every day of my working life. Whilst many GPs are happy to see short term vaping used as a route to giving up smoking, we don’t know enough about vaping yet to determine how safe it is. There has been recent evidence that use of e-cigarettes is just as bad for the blood vessels as smoking cigarettes. Also, teenagers who vape are three to four times more likely to smoke cigarettes later in life. So it’s very concerning that products are widely available that are especially attractive to teenagers, encouraging them to take up a habit that might cause them long term health problems.”
Chris Tuckett, director of programmes at Marine Conservation Society, said:
“Unfortunately our beach clean volunteers have started to see single-use vapes littered on our beaches around the UK. These products are made up of lots of different materials, which are rarely recycled, and pose a threat to marine life when littered. We must shift away from single-use products, and therefore we fully support a ban on single-use vapes.”
Note to editors:
[1] Open letter addressed to environment and health secretaries from environment and health groups, November 2022
[2] Material Focus, Number of disposable single-use vapes thrown away have in a year quadrupled to 5 million per week, July 2023. One million single use vapes thrown away every week contributing to the growing e-waste challenge in the UK, July 2022
[3] Ibid
[4] Action on Smoking Health, Use of e-cigarettes (vapes) among young people in Great Britain, July 2022. The research found that the most frequently used e-cigarette product among young people in Great Britain was a disposable vape (52.0 per cent compared to 7.7 per cent in 2021).
[5] BBC News, Vaping – is it a risk-free option?, June 2022
[6] Sky News, Millions of disposable vapes containing valuable metal ending up in landfill, July 2022
Dear _________________ ,
I am writing, as one of your constituents, to let you know about an issue which is becoming increasingly important; single-use disposable vapes. I believe that it is vital we ban these disposable electronic devices, for environmental and public heath reasons.
There has been much attention brought to this issue in recent months, with significant media coverage and political engagement. So far in Westminster we have had written and oral questions put to the Government asking about the environmental impact of these devices, alongside debates and evidence hearings in late 2022 and early 2023. The UK Government has also indicated it's wishes to ban these items, however we must ensure this is followed through with robust policy. In the nations, we have also had the Scottish Government commission and publish an urgent review on the environmental impacts, and are considering a ban and have had several councils write to the Government in support of a ban.
Importantly, we now have all councils in England and Wales through the LGA calling for a ban on disposable vapes, alongside the majority of Scottish councils.
Below are some notes as background to the issue.
Unfortunately, the UK Government has not previously undertaken an assessment of the environmental impact of disposable vapes in the UK, as revealed by Trudy Harrison after a question from Kirsten Oswald. DEFRA released the findings from the consultation on single-use plastic items, but admits failing to take into account disposable vaping products.
I would very much appreciate if you could spare time to read these notes and acknowledge receipt of this letter. I would be interested to know your thoughts on this issue, and whether you would be able to support this ban on disposable vaping products.
You can also watch the parliamentary panel on the banning of disposable e-vapes hosted by the Environment APPG from April 17th, and the parliamentary evidence hearing on youth vaping from the Health and Social Care committee on June 28th.
If you have any questions, please contact me at your earliest convenience.
Yours,
Name: ____________________
House Number: ______
Postcode: ____________
Key statistics:
5 million disposable vapes are thrown away weekly in the UK, meaning a substantial quantity of plastic and lithium, this is up from 1.3 million (2 thrown away per second) in 2022. [2]
Every disposable vape contains 0.15g of lithium. This means at least 10 tonnes of lithium end up in landfill each year. That’s enough to power 1,200 electric car batteries (based on the 2022 1.3 million thrown away per week stat). [6]
Disposable vapes contain a lithium ion battery which poses a significant fire risk to both waste facilities, bin lorries, and homes.
Background information:
In an open letter to the Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey and Health Secretary Steve Barclay, eighteen environment and health groups, including Green Alliance, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Marine Conservation Society and RSPCA, demand the government ban the sale of single-use e-cigarettes to stem their “rapidly escalating threat” to public health and the environment. [1]
The demand follows research from Material Focus earlier in the year that showed that at least 5 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week, equating to eight vapes per second, enough to cover 88 football pitches per year. [2]
The groups argue that disposable vapes are “unnecessary electrical items” that contain single-use plastic, nicotine and batteries, all of which are “hazardous to the environment and wildlife when littered”.
The products also contain lithium, which is a critical material for the net zero transition, such as in the manufacture of electric vehicles. The ten tonnes of lithium discarded from disposable vapes each year is the same as needed for 1,200 electric vehicles. [3]
Uptake of disposable vapes among young people is “particularly concerning”, write the groups, with a seven-fold increase in the percentage of 11 to 17 year olds opting for disposable products since 2021. [4]
Rather than helping existing smokers to give up the habit, multiple health professionals have warned that disposable vapes risk creating a new generation hooked on nicotine, with emerging evidence showing there could be an increased risk of chronic lung conditions. [5]
As reusable vapes are available and accessible, banning single-use e-cigarettes would not inhibit public health efforts to enable people to quit smoking or the government’s commitment to achieve a smoke-free generation by 2030.
Libby Peake, head of resource policy at Green Alliance, said:
“We need to be moving towards durable and reusable products designed sustainably, not inventing new ways to cause harm to the wildlife and wasting valuable resources. Ministers must act swiftly to ban disposable vapes to protect young people and our environment from this new and entirely avoidable threat.”
Dr Honey Smith, director and co-chair of the National Leads group of Greener Practice, said:
“As a GP I see the effects of smoking every day of my working life. Whilst many GPs are happy to see short term vaping used as a route to giving up smoking, we don’t know enough about vaping yet to determine how safe it is. There has been recent evidence that use of e-cigarettes is just as bad for the blood vessels as smoking cigarettes. Also, teenagers who vape are three to four times more likely to smoke cigarettes later in life. So it’s very concerning that products are widely available that are especially attractive to teenagers, encouraging them to take up a habit that might cause them long term health problems.”
Chris Tuckett, director of programmes at Marine Conservation Society, said:
“Unfortunately our beach clean volunteers have started to see single-use vapes littered on our beaches around the UK. These products are made up of lots of different materials, which are rarely recycled, and pose a threat to marine life when littered. We must shift away from single-use products, and therefore we fully support a ban on single-use vapes.”
Note to editors:
[1] Open letter addressed to environment and health secretaries from environment and health groups, November 2022
[2] Material Focus, Number of disposable single-use vapes thrown away have in a year quadrupled to 5 million per week, July 2023. One million single use vapes thrown away every week contributing to the growing e-waste challenge in the UK, July 2022
[3] Ibid
[4] Action on Smoking Health, Use of e-cigarettes (vapes) among young people in Great Britain, July 2022. The research found that the most frequently used e-cigarette product among young people in Great Britain was a disposable vape (52.0 per cent compared to 7.7 per cent in 2021).
[5] BBC News, Vaping – is it a risk-free option?, June 2022
[6] Sky News, Millions of disposable vapes containing valuable metal ending up in landfill, July 2022
