{"id":499132,"date":"2026-02-25T18:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499132\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T18:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:54:15","slug":"explained-how-are-shops-supposed-to-get-rid-of-unsold-disposable-vapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499132\/","title":{"rendered":"EXPLAINED: How are shops supposed to get rid of unsold disposable vapes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s now officially against the law for businesses in Jersey to sell single-use vapes \u2013 but what are they supposed to do with the left-over e-cigarettes?<\/p>\n

It became illegal to import and supply single-use\u00a0vapes\u00a0in Jersey on 1 August 2025, but retailers were given a six-month sell-through period to get rid of any remaining stock.<\/p>\n

There was a flurry of discounted vapes on sale across the island<\/a> in a bid to eliminate old stock ahead of the end of that period on Sunday 1 February.<\/p>\n

The single-use vape ban came into place primarily as an environmental measure, as single-use vapes are difficult to recycle and are a fire hazard when disposed of with general rubbish.<\/p>\n

However, there were also public health concerns, including that the cheap single-use e-cigarette devices were accessible to children and young people.<\/p>\n

The difficulty with disposing of the remaining unsold vapes is that the batteries within them contain certain dangerous metals and chemicals.<\/p>\n

These include lithium, manganese and cobalt \u2013 which often make up a third of the weight in products \u2013 that have to be recycled safely.<\/p>\n

\"\"Pictured: Vapes Jersey owner Sarah Ward warned that \u201cthe real issue\u201d with vaping in Jersey is devices being sold to under-18s.<\/p>\n

Vapes Jersey owner Sarah Ward told\u00a0Express\u00a0that she had not noticed any decrease in people buying vapes ahead of the ban, as customers had simply \u201cadapted to the new style or moved on to a traditional vaping device\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said that she only had \u201caround 14 to 18\u201d disposable vapes left after the 1 February deadline, which will go to recycling.<\/p>\n

While Sarah did not mind not being able to sell disposable vapes after the enforcement date, she said there is a fundamental issue with the new law itself.<\/p>\n

The vape shop owner claimed that there is \u201cactually more plastic waste\u201d if people are buying reusable vapes, because they are made up of \u201ctwo or three\u201d items \u2013 such as pods \u2013 which have to be replaced \u201cevery couple of weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n

Therefore, whilst the disposable-vape ban \u201cdecreases the amount of battery waste\u201d, Sarah said it also causes \u201can increase in plastic waste\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"ThePictured: VaporizerHut Limited director Ross Barker.<\/p>\n

VaporizerHut\u00a0Limited director Ross Barker said it was \u201cannoying\u201d to have to throw stock out following the single-use vape ban.<\/p>\n

While he \u201cunderstands\u201d there\u00a0has to\u00a0be a date for when the ban comes into\u00a0effect, he said it\u00a0would\u2019ve\u00a0been better if they could have sold the remaining ones that \u201calready exist\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the back of the VaporizerHut\u00a0Limited store was a box filled to the brim with vapes that didn\u2019t\u00a0get sold in time, awaiting being picked up by recycling.<\/p>\n

Ross explained that this included \u201cless popular flavours\u201d,\u00a0such as lychee and coconut.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"ThePictured: The VaporizerHut\u00a0Limited had a box filled with single-use vapes that didn\u2019t\u00a0get sold in time. Credit: Elen Johnston<\/p>\n

Environment Minister Steve Luce said that islanders can take used disposable vapes to mini battery recycling banks or the Household Reuse and Recycling Centre at La Collette.<\/p>\n

Retailers looking to dispose of single-use vapes that can no longer be sold should contact the waste and recycling team, he added.<\/p>\n

An Infrastructure and Environment spokesperson highlighted that the grace period was introduced following engagement with local vape retailers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile of course some waste is still being produced, the mix of materials being disposed is significantly less compared to when single-use vapes were in circulation,\u201d they added.<\/p>\n

On 1 February 2026, it became illegal for traders and islanders to:<\/p>\n

Sell, lend, exchange or gift single-use vapes<\/p>\n

Order single-use vapes from an off-island trader and import them by post<\/p>\n

Bring single-use vapes into the island in personal baggage.<\/p>\n

Anyone who imports single-use vapes will have the items seized and could be fined up to \u00a31,000.<\/p>\n

A vape is considered single-use if it meets one or more of the following criteria:\u00a0<\/p>\n

It cannot be reused\u00a0<\/p>\n

It cannot be refilled\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its battery cannot be recharged\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its coil cannot be replaced.<\/p>\n

Vapes that are permitted must be designed to allow all of the above functions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland banned the sale and supply of single-use vapes from 1 June 2025 with no selling-through period.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s now officially against the law for businesses in Jersey to sell single-use vapes \u2013 but what are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[49,48,295,74421,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-499132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-expresso-jsy","12":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}