Falkirk Council to debate ban on disposable vapes

Disposable vapes could be banned across Falkirk.

The local authority will debate plans next week to ban the items.

A motion is being raised at a Falkirk Council meeting.

The Scottish Government's launched an "urgent" review into disposable vapes - with some councils in Scotland already banning them.

Earlier this year, a campaign group found 237 disposable vapes in a 1 metre squared corner of Falkirk Skate Park.

The motion reads:

"Council notes with concern the serious and damaging environmental impacts of disposable vapes and recognises an increase in these electronic devices being discarded in communities and public spaces across the Falkirk council area.
Research by Material Focus, an independent not-for-profit organisation, identified in 2022 that at least 1.3 million so called "disposable" vapes are littered and binned each week.

Notes that vapes contain a range of precious materials, including lithium and copper which can be collected if recycled in a safe and appropriate manner. Council also considers there is heightened risk of damage to infrastructure due to the potential combustion of batteries contained in the devices both at Council run facilities and within communities.

Further anticipates the publication of the Scottish Government's urgent review into the environmental impact of disposable vapes, currently being undertaken by Zero Waste Scotland.

In light of the serious nature of these concerns, Council instructs the Chief Executive to write on behalf of Falkirk Council, to Lorna Slater MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity, and Chief Executive of Zero Waste Scotland, Ian Gulland, conveying Council's view that a ban on the sale of so-called "disposable" vapes be introduced in Scotland as soon as practicable."