Scott Butler, executive director at Material Focus, an environmental charity, is worried that a ban could lead to “hard to control illegal sales and an established illegal vape market”. He said: “If the legitimate industry is banned, then there will be no mechanism to deal with all the operational challenges and costs of illegally sold vapes which have the same challenges.”
Last week Material Focus research found that 5m single-use vapes are being thrown away in the UK every week, a fourfold increase on 2022. Butler said that if the market went underground there would be no way to encourage retailers to recycle these products.
Illegal vapes are already a big issue. In June the Guardian revealed that millions of illegal and potentially harmful vapes have been seized in the past three years, with trading standards saying this was the “tip of the iceberg”.
Supreme plc (LON:SUP) is Europe’s leading manufacturer, brand owner, licencee and distributor of batteries, lighting, vaping and light fittings. We are also a leading name in sports nutrition, wellness and household products.
