Belgium becomes the first EU country to ban the sale of disposable vapes

Belgium has become the first EU country to ban the sale of disposable vapes, in a bid to prevent young people from becoming addicted to nicotine and protect the environment.

The sale of disposable electronic cigarettes is banned in Belgium from January 1 for health and environmental reasons. A ban on open-air smoking in Milan came into effect on the same day, as did EU countries discuss stricter controls on tobacco.

Announcing the ban last year, Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke described electronic cigarettes as an “extremely harmful” product that harms society and the environment.

“Disposable e-cigarettes are a new product simply designed to attract new consumers,” he told the Associated Press. “E-cigarettes often contain nicotine. Nicotine makes you addicted to nicotine. Nicotine is bad for your health.”

The minister also mentioned the “hazardous waste chemicals” present in the cheap and widely available disposable vapes.

Australia last year restricted the sale of all vapes to pharmacies as part of a series of anti-smoking measures seen as world-leading. It will be illegal to sell single-use vapes in Britain from June 2025, with the aim of curbing their widespread use by children and preventing environmental damage.

Vandenbroucke said Belgium is “playing a pioneering role in Europe to weaken the tobacco lobby” and called for an update of EU law.

The country aims to reduce the number of new smokers to zero or near zero by 2040 and is taking other steps to “discourage and denormalize” smoking.

Smoking is already banned in playgrounds, sports fields, zoos and theme parks, and tobacco products will no longer be allowed to be sold in supermarkets larger than 400 square meters or displayed in points of sale from April 1.

An official Belgian Health Interview questionnaire in 2018 it found that 15.3% of the population aged 15 and over smoked every day, up from 25.5% in 1997. The 2023 survey, due to be released in September, is expected to show a further decline in smoking , but the government went on to say Action was needed to achieve tobacco reduction targets.

A ban on outdoor smoking came into effect on Wednesday in Milan, the northern Italian business and fashion hub long known for its smog.

Smokers who take to the streets of the city and in busy public areas face fines of between €40 and €240. The ban is an extension of a measure imposed in 2021 banning smoking in parks and playgrounds, and at bus stops and sports facilities banned.

City officials said the ban was intended to improve air quality and protect people’s health, especially from the effects of passive smoking. However, the ban does not apply to e-cigarettes.

Milan is located in the Po Valley, a vast geographical area spanning the regions of Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna. A 2023 Guardian study found that more than a third of people living in the valley and surrounding areas breathed four times more air than the World Health Organization guideline for the most dangerous particles in the air.

Although the number of smokers in Italy has gradually fallen over the past 15 years, 24% of the population still smokes, according to last year’s data from the Higher Health Institute.

According to the report, an estimated 93,000 deaths per year in Italy are attributed to smoking ministry of health. Italy’s first national anti-smoking measure was introduced in 1975, when smoking was banned on public transport and in classrooms. The ban was extended to public administrative spaces in 1995 and to all enclosed public spaces in 2005.