Final Straw Foundation hails Waitrose stopping vape sales as 'step in the right direction'

Environmental campaigners are pushing for supermarkets to stop selling single-use vapes, which have skyrocketed in popularity over the past 12 months. Now, supermarket chain Waitrose has halted sales of single-use vaping products, which have soared in popularity over the past year.

The supermarket chain said it cannot justify selling them, given their impact on the environment and ‘health of young people’. Two types of single-use e-cigarettes have now been removed from sale as a result, it said.

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As the vapes continue to rise in popularity, they have also become a significant litter problem, with people dropping them on the floor instead of putting them into the bin.

Co-founder of the Final Straw Foundation, Bianca Carr, said: ‘Everywhere we go now they seem to be popping up – it’s becoming a huge problem. They’re washing up on beaches, being littered left, right and centre, and my children have even said that they’ve found them on school gounds too.

‘We have a beach clean at Eastney coming up and I’m certain we’ll find a fair few of these things along the shoreline. I suppose it’s a great way for these vape companies to make money, but it’s coming at the expense of both the health of our young people and the environment.

‘I’m glad Waitrose has decided not to sell them anymore, it’s definitely a positive step in the right direction but we need more of the supermarkets to follow suit.’

Waitrose said it has de-listed vaping products containing lithium, which it has historically sold under the Ten Motives label.

Commercial director Charlotte Di Cello said: ‘We are a retailer driven by doing the right thing, so selling single-use vapes is not something we could justify given the impact on both the environment and the health of young people. We had already decided it wasn’t right to stock the fashionable bright-coloured devices which are seeing rapid growth – so this decision is the final jigsaw piece in our clear decision not to be part of the single-use vaping market.'

The ONS said vaping devices such as e-cigarettes have played a ‘major role’ in reducing the prevalence of smoking across the UK.