Disposable nicotine vapes are still being sold by retailers in the United Kingdom, even though they were recently banned. This was widely predicted by tobacco harm reduction advocates and others, but new research sought to illustrate its extent.
The UK controversially banned sales of single-use e-cigarettes on June 1. A recent investigation claims that almost one in four retailers are breaking the law by continuing to sell them.
The investigation was carried out by Haypp, an online nicotine retailer. “We’re not surprised about the results,” Markus Lindbald, the company’s head of Legal & External Affairs, told Filter.
The investigation involved mystery shoppers visiting 48 stores in nine UK cities from June 2-6. These included independent vape shops, large retailers and small corner shops. Glasgow and London were found to have the highest concentrations of retailers willing to sell the now-illegal products. Though it was mostly independent vape shops, at least one major national convenience store in Birmingham also sold a disposable vape to a mystery shopper.
“Just max it out because we will not enforce it!”
Haypp has said the number of retailers continuing to sell disposables could actually be a lot higher. And of course, the investigation didn’t account for illicit sales outside of retail outlets. The company conducted a previous survey in 2024, finding “widespread confusion” over the impending ban and alternative products available, which prompted the recent investigation.
Lindbald said every new regulation should be accompanied by clear plans, responsibilities and funding for enforcement. Instead, he suggested, the government’s message to businesses is, “There is always an opportunity to increase your profit and revenue by not following the laws—just max it out because we will not enforce it!”
Retailers were getting around the ban by accepting cash only, not providing receipts and selling disposables in bulk packages rather than individually, he said.
Haypp had a commercial motive for carrying out the investigation, when it views illicit disposables as unfair competition.
“I don’t get why all UK compliant online retailers and Haypp, the most compliant online retailers, should be punished just because we are following the laws,” Lindbald said. “We have right from the beginning stated that the disposables are not a long-term sustainable solution.”
David Donaghy, head of creative marketing at Riot, another company that sells vaping products, has a similar view. “Retailers who continue to push disposable devices undermine the intent of the ban and disregard the opportunity to offer consumers better options,” he told Filter.
The UK government banned disposables because they were blamed for youth use and environmental harm. But many tobacco harm reduction advocates opposed the ban, on the basis that disposables are a vital low-barrier option—easy to use, and with low start-up costs—for predominantly marginalized people to switch from smoking.
“It costs and looks exactly the same as the disposable ones, but the shop didn’t even sell refill pods. So when that one runs out, I’ll be disposing of it.”
Plenty of data illustrate disposables’ ability to reduce cigarette sales, while better recycling options and adherence to existing age restrictions could mitigate the concerns, advocates argued.
They further predicted that the ban would boost illicit markets, which are more likely to operate without consumer protections or age verification. Research from Action on Smoking and Health has indicated that the majority of underage vapers will keep vaping after the ban; of that group, 44 percent say they’ll try to obtain illicit disposables.
Back in May, an analysis by the Association of Convenience Stores, an organization representing retailers, reported that not enough funding had been made available to meaningfully enforce the disposables ban.
One British consumer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he had stockpiled disposables before the ban was enacted but had just bought his first alternative product, which amounted to a workaround.
“It costs and looks exactly the same as the disposable ones, but the shop didn’t even sell refill pods,” he told Filter. “So, when that one runs out, I’ll be disposing of it, responsibly, and buying another one.”
The ban “is completely ill-prepared and lacks any thought,” he added. “Introducing policies without working out the tangible impacts screams of lip service without real intent.”
“The government took products used by 2.6 million adults as alternatives to smoking and just banned them, with little more than wishful thinking that it would work well.”
Demand for disposables persists. A new survey conducted by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation (SGF) found that 31 percent of retailers are being asked for disposable vapes at least once a day, with another 18 percent saying it happens at least weekly. The SGF blamed poor public awareness and confusion over “the changeover to refillable and rechargeable vapes.”
British tobacco harm reduction expert Clive Bates, of Counterfactual Consulting, said it’s too soon to know exactly how the ban will play out.
“But the government took products used by 2.6 million adults as alternatives to smoking and just banned them, with little more than wishful thinking that it would work well,” he told Filter. “What did they think would happen?”
Photograph by Filter
