LGA calls for vape ban loophole to be closed. A year after single-use vapes were banned, the Local Government Association says the market has shifted to rechargeable devices designed, priced and used like the disposables they replaced, and is urging the Government to tighten the legal definition to close the loophole.
More than 6 million vapes and pods are still thrown away each week, down from 8.2 million before the ban took effect on 1 June 2025, according to Material Focus. Fires at waste sites and in bin lorries have risen over the same period, caused by lithium-ion batteries igniting when crushed.
Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor MBE, Chair of the LGA's Health and Wellbeing Committee, said: "A year on, the volume of vapes in our bins has dropped, but industry has moved faster than regulation. The products causing fires in our bin lorries today are effectively the same disposables in a different shell. Year two must focus on enforcement, producer responsibility, and closing this industry loophole."
