Environmental groups have called for the sale of single-use e-cigarettes to be banned due their “rapidly escalating threat”.
In an open letter
to environment secretary Thérèse Coffey and health secretary Steve
Barclay, 18 environment and health groups, including Green Alliance and
RSPCA, 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”.
They describe disposable vapes as single use plastics, which is a stretch given that they provide 300 puffs each. They also claim that the amount of lithium in their batteries
equates to 1,200 electric cars per year. Maybe so, but there were seven million
electric cars produced last year and that number is rising
exponentially. Lithium usage in e-cigarettes is negligible by
comparison.
Disposable vapes are not a 'health threat'. On the contrary, they are hugely important in helping smokers who want to quit. Reusable e-cigarettes are cheaper in the longterm and many people who start with disposables will switch to them later, but they require a larger financial commitment up front and are less simple to use. For smokers who are trying vaping for the first time, disposables are the most appealing option.
Vaping has been incredibly effective in driving down smoking rates in Britain, but 28 per cent of smokers have still never tried an e-cigarette and the majority of those who have tried them have not become longterm users. If more smokers are going to switch to vaping, they need products that are simple, convenient and cheap.
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