Disposable vapes are still fueling a surge in bin lorry fires across the country despite being banned last year, councils are warning. The disposable vape ban came into effect on June 1, 2025, but more than six million vapes are still thrown away each week.
Bin Lorry Fires on the Rise
Bin lorry fires across the UK have increased over the same period, according to the Local Government Association (LGA). This is often caused by lithium-ion batteries in rechargeable vapes sparking when crushed or damaged during waste collection.
LGA Calls for Stronger Action
Wendy Taylor, chair of the LGA’s health and wellbeing committee, said: 'The ban on single-use vapes was the right decision and councils continue to be strong supporters. 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. Year one of the ban has shown what regulation alone can achieve. Year two must focus on enforcement, producer responsibility, and closing this industry loophole to keep rechargeable vapes out of our waste system, preventing further fires and reducing unnecessary local resource drain.'
Public Awareness Lacking
A lack of public awareness is adding to the problem, the group said. Some 47% of vape users do not know the devices can be recycled. Meanwhile, among the people who have tried returning vapes in supermarkets, just 53% said they could do so consistently, despite retailers being legally required to offer take-back schemes.
Progress Despite Challenges
The LGA said the number of vapes thrown away each week has decreased significantly, as it was 8.2 million weekly before the ban. It comes after Metro revealed that lithium-ion batteries from vapes are being shipped to Ukraine to help with the war effort against Russia. There, volunteers strip them down and rebuild them into power banks for frontline soldiers. One worker said the power banks are 'saving lives, because soldiers don’t have to run back frequently to recharge equipment, which potentially draws fire.'
Before the ban, an estimated 40 tonnes of lithium from disposable vapes were discarded in the UK in a single year, enough to power 5,000 electric vehicles. About 6,000 UK vapes had already been shipped to the Lviv workshop as of May, with thousands more to follow.
