The LGA is urging the Government to tighten the definition of single-use vapes to close a loophole, reduce waste and prevent further dangerous bin lorry, recycling and waste centre fires.
Since the disposable vape ban was introduced on 1 June 2025, the number of vapes and pods thrown away each week has fallen from 8.2 million, but more than six million are still being discarded.
The market has quickly adapted, with many products now designed and used like the disposables they replaced.
Vapes continue to be placed in household waste, with 47 per cent of users unaware that vapes can be recycled. Of those attempting to do so, only 43 per cent report being consistently able to recycle at supermarkets, despite a legal requirement for retailers to offer take-back schemes.
The LGA is calling on the Government to tighten the legal definition of single-use vapes to capture disposable-style products, strengthen enforcement of retail take-back schemes, with penalties for non-compliance, and increase producer fees to reflect the full cost of safe disposal.
Cllr Dr Wendy Taylor MBE, Chair of the LGA’s Health and Wellbeing Committee, said: “A year on, the volume of vapes in our bins has dropped, but industry has moved faster than regulation; the products causing fires in our bin lorries today are effectively the same disposables in a different shell.
“Councils are bearing the cost of contaminated recycling and dangerous fires, with residents ultimately paying through council tax, instead of producers and retailers.”