Confusion around the details of the disposable-vapes ban continues just one week before shops prepare for the legislation to come into force on 1 June. 

Retailers’ last-minute preparations have been hampered by false information provided by trading standards teams, mixed messaging on the requirements around stocking refillable pods and concerns around customers’ readiness to part with disposable vapes. 

Trading standards confusion 

Rishin Patel, at Tony’s in Coombe Lane, south London, told Better Retailing his elderly father was left “shaken up” when trading standards officers incorrectly told him to dispose of £1,000 of compliant stock, which they wrongly claimed was illegal as they contained “more than 600 puffs”. Other store owners in other regions have reported similar issues. 

Patel said: “The trading standards officers suggested that anything with more than 600 puffs is illegal – this is a completely incorrect and outdated message. If I had not returned to the store when I did, we would have lost a great amount of currently compliant stock.” 

Merton Council originally repeated its claim that devices containing more than 600 puffs were illegal, only admitting its mistake when challenged again by Better Retailing, stating: “We apologise for the confusion and upset this caused the vendor. We are ensuring all officers are reminded of the guidance to prevent this from happening again.” 

The visit was part of a wave of inspections carried out, raising concerns that many other stores may have also been told to dispose of legal goods. 

Step-by-step guide to getting your store ready for the disposable vapes ban

Refill loophole 

Retailers this week sought clarification on the law’s stipulation that “refill pods and replaceable coils must all be separately available”. At a retailer event last week, a Defra spokesperson said there was “no legal obligation” to sell replacement pods. 

They said: “You’re not obliged to sell the products, but we would recommend you do in most cases.” However, they added: “It’s your responsibility to prove the products you’re selling are compliant, and that includes proving that they have relevant replacement parts.”

This is despite there being no strict legal requirement to stock pods or refills, which could potentially cause stores problems in proving compliance if they do not stock them. 

“We generally encourage those products to be in your stores, but there is no legal obligation,” the spokesperson said. 

Contradicting the Defra spokesperson, Hazel Cheeseman, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, said: “If you are selling a ‘reusable’ product, you must also stock the pods.” 

Consumer behaviour 

Concerns have also been raised that consumers have been slow to move away from disposable vapes, potentially leading to a post-ban drop in vape sales, especially due to concerns around an already thriving vape black market. 

A survey from supplier Vape Superstore found the number of vapers using a disposable as their primary device had decreased from 66% to 43.1%, but the number planning to stockpile disposables had shot up from 25.2% to 70.3%. Retailers contacted by Better Retailing said they worried customers will throw away and litter reusable devices due to poor shopper awareness of the ban. 

Citing similar price points and appearances of new disposable stock and a “throwaway culture associated with vapes”, Scott Butler, executive director of recycling nonprofit Material Focus, said he is “worried existing behaviour is locked in”.

Gerry Hooper, founder of In-Touch Group, shared sales data from more than 10,000 independent shops showing nearly 14% of vapes sold are still disposables, down from 20% last year. Replacement products also have a low market share, with pod kits accounting for just 1.2% of sales.

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