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Sustainable Vaping Week campaign begins with vape recycling in focus

Sustainable Vaping Week campaign begins with vape recycling in focus

The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) has launched its Sustainable Vaping Week campaign, which encourages consumers to recycle their vapes and the sector to be more environmentally responsible.

The initiative follows new research from Material Focus which found five million single-use vapes are thrown away every week in the UK and comes as the vape sector faces increasing scrutiny for its impact on the planet.


It also follows fast on the heels of International E-Waste Day, which took place on October 14, and coincides with the unveiling of the UKVIA’s new permanent vape recycling information hub – Recycle-Vapes.co.uk.

“There are continued calls for the government to ban single-use vapes, in part, on environmental grounds. However, the introduction of prohibitive policy is not the way to solve this pressing industry challenge – especially when disposables represent one of the most accessible, popular and affordable quitting tools for adults looking to move away from cigarettes,” John Dunne, director general of the UKVIA, commented.

“Instead, more needs to be done to educate vapers on the proper disposal of their devices and to establish a stronger infrastructure for collecting and processing vape waste. As new research from specialist firm Waste Experts found consumers don’t try to recycle their disposables because they ‘don’t know they should’ or ‘don’t have access to any easy recycling option’.

“The latest research from Material Focus echoed these findings, revealing that as many as 70% of people threw away their single-use vapes because they didn’t know they could recycle them.”

Both the Sustainable Vaping Week campaign and the new online resource hub provide vapers with an informative guide on how to safely dispose of their waste vape devices in an environmentally considerate way.

There is guidance from the Environment Agency and Office for Product Safety and Standards for producers, importers, distributors and retailers of vaping products regarding their environmental obligations.

Retailers and manufacturers can also download a range of materials to encourage vapers to recycle their vapes in the form of in-store posters, social media posts and online banners.

Dunne continued: “The environmental initiatives we have launched have been created to close this critical knowledge gap by better educating vapers on how to correctly dispose of their used devices, providing guidance to the industry on their environmental responsibilities and spreading the message that vapes can and should be recycled.”

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Fed National President Mo Razzaq

Indies: It’s criminal police and government turn blind eye to shoplifting

Independent retailers are demanding tougher police action, more bobbies on the beat and harsher punishments as shoplifting levels reach an all-time high, a new survey reveals.

A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.

Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.

Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.

Forty-four per cent reported that they and their staff had faced abuse or violence because they had refused to make a proxy sale – selling an age restricted product to a customer buying for a minor.

The results of the Fed’s survey came as new figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that shoplifting was at a record high, with almost half a million offences recorded last year.

According to the ONS, 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024 – a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

The ONS added that this figure was the highest since records began – in March 2003.

“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.

“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”

Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.

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