UK region plans to introduce additional £5 charge per vape purchased in new crackdown
Your Lost Marys and Elf Bars could be about to get a lot more costly if a new proposed rule comes into force.
A new rule will be debated by the Norwich City Council on Tuesday (June 30) which would see vapers be charged a £5 deposit for each device they buy.
It's hoped the rule would encourage vape users to dispose of their used vapes properly after a spate of fires in Norfolk.
Single-use vapes were outlawed in the UK last year, but millions of the banned vapes, as well as the legal rechargeable ones, are thrown in the rubbish each week instead of recycled.
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Two recycling centres in Norfolk have suffered fires in recent weeks, with the lithium-ion batteries found in vapes and other small electric devices being identified as the culprit.
It's hoped the scheme will stop any further blazes, which are obviously dangerous but also costly to the taxpayer.
How the £5 vape deposit rule would work
According to the proposed plan, anyone buying a vape would pay an extra £5 deposit at the till for every vape purchased.
They would then be refunded the £5 when they hand the device back. Presumably the £5 would go straight back across the counter again when another new vape is bought.
It's reported that this would be mandatory for shops selling vapes, who would be forced to take back the smoking devices even if they weren't purchased there.
"This is about public safety and it is putting workers at risk," James Wright, former Norwich City Council mayor and leader of the Liberal Democrat group, who has tabled the notion, said.
"Councils are bearing the cost of dangerous fires, contaminated recycling, and clean-up, with these costs ultimately falling on local taxpayers.
"We also face growing environmental harm from littered and discarded vape devices.
"I think most people don't realise how dangerous it is to throw a lithium battery in a bin.
"We need a system that makes thing right in the long term but raising awareness is definitely something councils should be doing in the short term."
Wright has also called for the government to imply more pressure on manufacturers to fund safe disposal and recycling.
Group manager Rob Curtis, protection lead for Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We support anything that leads to the safe disposal of vapes and other items that contain lithium-ion batteries."
LADbible Group has approached The UK Vaping Industry Association for comment.
Daniel Murphy