Councillors bid to get local authority to back campaign to ban disposable vapes
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Greens Councillors alongside a LibDem and an SNP member have called for Highland Council to throw its weight behind a campaign to “ban the manufacture and sale of disposable vapes in Scotland.”
That campaign was launched by the Marine Conservation Society, Ash Scotland and Keep Scotland Beautiful in a bid to limit what they argue is the environmental and potential physical damage done by disposable vapes.
The motion from Councillors Chris Ballance, Andrew Baldrey, Chris Birt, Angus MacDonald, and Lyndsey Johnston will be tabled at a full meeting of Highland Council this week.
They argue that: “Around 1.3 million disposable vapes are thrown away in the UK each week, representing around 10 tonnes of lithium, the valuable resource crucial for electric car batteries, creating a new litter hazard across our streets and countryside, and contributing to extra plastic and toxic chemical pollution in land and sea.
“The Fire Brigade suggests that disposable vape batteries could have been responsible for the fire at the recycling depot in Aberdeenshire recently, and they have also been implicated in fires in bin lorries.
“E-cigarette use among teenagers doubled last year, creating a whole new generation of young people hooked on nicotine, with no societal benefit.
“Highland Council therefore agrees to support the campaign by the Marine Conservation Society, Ash Scotland and Keep Scotland Beautiful to ban the manufacture and sale of disposable vapes in Scotland, and asks the Leader to join with other Councils in Scotland in writing to the First Minister welcoming the review into disposable vapes and to note Highland Council’s support for a ban.”
