Single-use vapes ban: what businesses need to do
The single-use vape ban comes into force on 1st June 2025. Find out what information is available for businesses to help prepare for the ban.
From 1 June 2025, it will be illegal for businesses to sell or supply all single-use or ‘disposable’ vapes. This applies to:
- sales online and in shops
- all vapes whether or not they contain nicotine
If a vape is reusable, you’ll still be able sell or supply it.
Single-use vapes (also known as disposable vapes) are often discarded as litter or thrown into non-recycled waste. Littering spoils our communities, introduces harmful substances into the soil, rivers and streams, and causes harm to biodiversity. When single-use vapes are thrown into black bins they often end up in landfill or are incinerated, which means that resources that could be recycled are lost. They can also cause fires, which risks the safety of waste management workers, firefighters and the public.
To support local authorities, trade associations and businesses with making this change, the Department for Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has issued a guidance document for businesses in the UK vaping industry, including any shop or business that sells single-use vapes. This guidance is also for any business or organisation that supplies single-use vapes in any other settings – for example, within a healthcare setting or stop smoking service.
You can also download their digital toolkit for businesses with resources including:
- An infographic leaflet which summarises the guidance for businesses who sell vapes. Please download and circulate with high street, online and other vape retailers.
- A poster for high street retailers to display in windows, to help inform customers about the ban. Please download, print and share with businesses as appropriate.
- A Defra blog to explain to the general public why the ban is coming into force, the environmental harm of single-use vapes, and what people who buy these products should do.
You can also share this blog with public audiences “Single-use vapes: why it’s time to ditch them for good” explaining the environmental impact of these devices and why the ban is coming into force.
