Single use vapes are now banned from being sold.
From Sunday June 1, it was illegal for businesses to sell disposable vapes.
The ban applies to online sales and shops, and applies to all single-use vapes, whether they contain nicotine or not.
Businesses will still be able to sell or supply reusable vapes.
Disposable vapes waste valuable resources and are often discarded improperly, releasing harmful substances into the environment and posing fire hazards if they end up in waste processing facilities.
The Trading Standards team at Westmorland and Furness Council is urging businesses to stop buying new stock of single-use vapes and only buy vapes that meet the new regulations.
From June 1, any vapes sold by a business must:
- be rechargeable
- be refillable with e-liquid
- have a replaceable coil
The council said its Trading Standards team will be enforcing the new law around the sale of single-use vapes and any business found in possession of single-use vapes after June 1 may face fines of £200, and any single-use vapes may be seized.
Those who continue to break the law could also face an unlimited fine, up to two years in prison, or both.
Before the ban comes, businesses should check that the vapes they stock meet the legal requirements.
The Government has issued guidance for businesses here
Single-use vapes that cannot be sold after June 1 must be disposed of by a registered vape recycling service.
A spokesman for Westmorland and Furness Council said: “Our Trading Standards officers are here to support Westmorland and Furness businesses, so we would encourage local retailers to get in touch and make use of the free specialist support that we can offer to help them meet the new laws on vape sales.”
People are reminded that if they see any single-use vapes on sale in shops after June 1, or they believe a business is selling unregulated products, they can report it to Trading Standards by calling Citizen’s Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.
