Everything You Need To Know About The 2025 Disposable Vape Ban

If you haven’t already heard, disposable vapes will be banned from the 1st of June. Yep, after what seems like an eternity (a couple of years is a long time in the vaping world) of scaremongering, and MPs arguing about Elf Bars and Lost Marys in parliament, they’re finally going through with it. You wouldn’t think we were once the leading country in tobacco harm reduction, would you?

The disposable vape ban is set to transform the vaping landscape in our green and pleasant land massively, considering over 40% of vapers in the UK reported using disposable vapes.

In addition to the disposable ban, e-liquid flavours that the UK Government deems appealing to children will be restricted, plain packaging on all vape products will be introduced, and point-of-sale displays are to be subject to regulation. And don’t forget about the vape tax!

This disposable vape ban, along with the other new policies announced by the Government, is in response to the increasing number of kids vaping — kids who are almost exclusively vaping disposables.

So, theoretically, these measures (the disposable vape ban in particular) make sense. Children and teens are puffing away on disposables, so if you ban them, they won’t be able to get hold of them, right?

If only it was that simple.

Why Banning Disposables Won’t Work

The problem with the disposable vape ban is glaringly obvious when you look at how it’s been how it’s been approached in other countries. A prime example would be Australia’s disposable vape ban.

To put it bluntly, kids aren’t buying their vapes from specialist online retailers like us, who use third-party age verifcation software to ensure they’re not getting their pesky little hands on them. Don’t point the blame at the brick-and-mortar vape shops either, they check ID pretty thoroughly too.

It’s the dodgy corner shops and off-licenses that children are overwhelmingly getting their disposables from. These establishments are more concerned with making a sale than following the law.

Not only are they selling vaping products to underage customers, you’ll also often find that they stock illegally imported disposable vapes intended for sale in other countries, such as the 50mg (5%) vapes with 8000 puffs available in the US. You know, the ones with Bart Simpson in a Supreme hoodie printed on the side and stuff like that.

These devices are absolutely not TPD-compliant, and thus illegal for sale in the UK. But ironically, these are often the vapes that fall into the hands of our youth. So, when you take that into account, you’ll see that the disposable vape ban will only result in two things.

Firstly, It’ll strip disposable vapes from responsible retailers and the adult smokers who rely on them as a cessation tool, all while feeding the thriving black market for illicit imports. Sketchy businesses are already breaking the rules—does the Government really think a disposable vape ban will change that?

And who’s going to police them — Trading Standards? The same agency that’s already stretched too thin to tackle the current black market or prevent underage sales effectively? Even they admit that strengthening enforcement of existing regulations would be far more effective than an outright ban.

We’re fully behind the Government’s mission to tackle underage vaping, but this disposable vape ban and all the other restrictions they’re set to put in place are just destined for failure. Legal, TPD-compliant disposables will be unavailable to adult smokers — who actually rely on them to quit cigarettes —, all while cheap, poor-quality, and illegal vapes will flood corner shops across the nation, and end up in the hands of teenagers.

We’re well aware that disposable vapes are bad for the environment and that they’re being purchased by teens. That’s why, alongside the rest of the UK vape industry, we’ve pushed for alternative measures —solutions that would effectively tackle yourth vaping while supporting a regulated and responsible market. Instead, we’re handed outright prohibition.

So, with that in mind, other high-puff ‘disposables’ like the Lost Mary BM6000, Crystal CL6000, and IVG Smart 5500 should avoid the disposable vape ban, as they are rechargeable and feature replaceable pods rather than being single-use.

That said, the potential ban on e-liquid flavours (which we’ll get into next) might throw a bit of a spanner in the works, so we’ll have to wait and see.

If they decide to go through with it, what will that leave us with then? Tobacco, mint/menthol, and perhaps some fruity flavours — provided the Government decides that they don’t appeal to youngsters. This is where it gets particularly arbitary, what flavours are too ‘child-friendly’?

Would Blue Raspberry, a flavour profile based on an artificial additive used in sweets and sodas, count as one? What about any blend with a hint of aniseed (yes, I know that isn’t a fruit), is that a candy flavour now? Aniseed is in Liquorice after all.

The flavour ban extends to any packaging that might “appeal to children too”, meaning that all vape products are required to be sold with plain packaging. Thankfully, though, it’s expected to be plain white — as opposed to the pukeish green-brown packacing of cigarettes and tobacco.

This is a massive concern for vapers and retailers alike: if vaping becomes too expensive, fewer smokers will switch. We’ve seen countless smokers turn to vaping because it’s a far more affordable alternative, giving them a viable path away from cigarettes.

If you strip away both the cost advantage and the variety of flavours, what incentive is left for smokers to make the switch?

We can only hope that the government recognises the damage a vape tax could cause—and chooses to prioritise public health over revenue generation.

What Can We Do About It?

All vapers in the UK can really do at this point is kick up a right fuss about it. Write a strongly worded letter to your local MP, start a petition, publicly advocate for vaping on social media. If you’re really serious about it, a useful movement to get involved with, is the aptly titled Back Vaping campaign.

This UK-based initiative emphasises the importance of the UK Government emphasising the importance of vaping as a vital tool in smoking cessation and harm reduction. It urges them to back vaping, if you will, on international platforms — especially during significant events like the Conference of the Parties (COP10) to the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).

The campaign also calls for consumer representation at such conferences to highlight the success of the UK’s approach to smoking cessation, and encourages vapers to share their personal success stories with Members of Parliament to protect vaping rights and promote its benefits.

Beyond that, I suppose we’ll just have to hope that Mr.Starmer sees some sense and calls the whole thing off (wouldn’t count on it, though).