Prohibition of the sale and supply of single-use vapes: Fairer Scotland Duty summary - interim

Aims and expected outcomes of the proposal

1. To target the environmental issues associated with single-use vapes, the Scottish Government has agreed with the UK Government (legislating for England) and the Welsh Government, to prohibit the sale and supply of such items (hereafter referred to as ban on single-use vapes). This includes both nicotine and non-nicotine containing products since the environmental concerns exist for both types of products. Northern Ireland officials acknowledge the issues raised during the 2023 ‘Creating a smokefree generation and tackling youth vaping’^[1] consultation and will consider potential legislation in future.

2. The proposal aims to ban the sale and supply of single-use vapes to reduce environmental harm caused by the disposal of these items.

3. The policy objectives of the intervention are to:

• Accelerate a reduction in environmental harm by reducing the number of vapes being landfilled, incinerated, and littered, thereby increasing recycling and reuse rates.
• Stimulate businesses and consumers to reduce their use of single-use vapes and encourage replacing them with reusable alternatives, thereby supporting a switch to less environmentally harmful products.