Disposable product: Federal government announces ban on disposable e-cigarettes

The federal government wants to follow the pressure from the Bundestag, the states, and associations and seal the end of disposable e-cigarettes. The executive will initiate a ban on such so-called vapes, announced Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, parliamentary state secretary in the Federal Ministry for the Environment, in a statement made for the record during the plenary session of the Bundesrat on Friday. However, the SPD politician qualified that, in her view, such a step would have to be approved by the EU Commission.

Considering this commitment from the federal government, the Bundesrat passed the latest amendment to the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act despite massive concerns. The environment committee of the chamber of states had previously recommended to the plenum to call for the conciliation committee with the Bundestag regarding the reform. It aimed to include a ban on the marketing of disposable electronic cigarettes in the law. Previously, at the end of September, the chamber of states had reiterated its call for such an initiative in its statement on the draft.

The environment committee sees the annual consumption of an estimated 60 million disposable e-cigarettes in Germany and their improper disposal as a significant threat to people, the environment, and the economy, which is not sufficiently countered by the present law. The marketing of disposable items like these plastic products, for which refillable alternatives exist, contradicts the highest goal of the circular economy: waste prevention. Valuable raw materials such as plastics and lithium are lost through illegal disposal in household waste.

Costly fires in recycling centers

Furthermore, the batteries contained therein lead to fires in disposal facilities if disposed of improperly, the environmental politicians of the states pointed out. This creates significant risks for employees, high property damage, and environmental pollution. The recycling and disposal industry suffers from increasing, sometimes existentially threatening fires due to improperly disposed of lithium-ion batteries, the total damage of which is estimated to be in the high three-digit million range annually. This ultimately has to be co-financed by consumers through waste fees.

Given the high pressure to act, which other European countries have already responded to, the committee does not see the pure take-back obligation intended by the Bundestag as a suitable means to solve the problem. Existing free disposal options are hardly used. Instead, such a regulation creates avoidable additional bureaucratic effort for trade and industry.

Last week, during the decision on the amendment, the Bundestag also called on the federal government to examine a prohibition of the controversial disposable smoking devices. The members of parliament referred, for example, to the corresponding actions of France and Belgium, where, however, health protection is the priority. The sale of vapes is a multi-billion euro business in Germany. According to an estimate by the industry association Bündnis für tabakfreien Genuss, Germans will spend 2.4 billion euros on them this year. One-tenth is accounted for by disposable products; the rest by devices that can be recharged and refilled with new liquid.

DUH: Ban is overdue

Barbara Metz, Federal Managing Director of the German Environmental Aid (Deutsche Umwelthilfe, DUH), welcomes the executive's announcement as "a correct, but long overdue step". The civil society organization had "pointed out early on how dangerous these disposable products are for the environment, health, and safety." Therefore, it had built a broad alliance of 17 associations, including the German Medical Association, the German Cancer Research Center, and the Children's Fund. More than 40,000 citizens had subsequently signed a petition for a ban, Metz is pleased. A ban could be implemented, for example, by amending the Tobacco Products Ordinance if such an approach serves the protection of public health. The federal government must now act quickly.

With the revised Electrical Equipment Act, politicians primarily want to combat electronic waste more effectively. To this end, manufacturers are being held more responsible, for example, for recycling obligations, the use of secondary raw materials, and the longevity of electrical appliances. In addition, collection and take-back systems are to be standardized and made more accessible through a logo. Shops that sell disposable e-cigarettes will in the future have to set up a collection station for used vapes and be obliged to take them back. The amendment is expected to largely come into force at the beginning of 2026.

(nie)