Disposable vapes become illegal to sell or supply from Sunday 1 June.
East Riding of Yorkshire Council is encouraging people who use vapes to help them quit smoking, to switch to a reusable device.
The ban, introduced under environmental legislation, is designed to cut down on single-use plastic waste and limit underage access to vapes. From Sunday, 1 June, all vapes sold must be rechargeable and refillable.
Councillor Jonathan Owen, Chair of East Riding’s Health and Wellbeing Board said: “The ban on single use vapes is one step towards discouraging young people from vaping. We fully support tighter restrictions on attractiveness, flavour, and cost to make vapes less appealing to the younger generation.
“However, vaping is an effective tool to help tobacco smokers quit, with over half of people who successfully quit smoking having used a vape to support their quit attempt.”
Councillor Paul West, the council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, said: “The ban on disposable vapes will help to take millions of single-use plastics out of the environment. We’d like to remind residents to dispose of vapes safely either at a vape shop or a household waste recycling site -which have special bins to recycle them safely. They can’t be disposed of in general waste and have unfortunately caused a number of fires in our waste trucks where people have used their general waste bins.”
Smokers will still have a full range of effective and affordable options to help them quit tobacco. Switching to a refillable device could also help people save money within weeks.
East Riding residents can get free support from local stop smoking service Healthier Futures in partnership with Xyla. A chat with a professional stop smoking adviser can help ensure you’re getting the right level of nicotine to quit and making the most of vaping as a quit aid. Find out more and access support on the Healthier Futures website or call the team on 0330 236 9102.
Read more about the ban on the Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) website.
Learn about vaping to quit at www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/vaping-to-quit-smoking/
