What Vapes Can I Use After the UK Disposable Vape Ban?
1st Nov 2024
By Joe Delaney; Director and Content Writer, V2 Cigs UK
Originally Published: 1st November 2024.
Last updated: 10th September 2026.
Vaping products are for adult smokers and existing vapers only. Vaping is not risk-free. Not suitable for non-smokers or anyone under 18.
What Vapes Can I Use After the UK Disposable Vape Ban?
Single-use disposable vapes have been illegal to sell or supply in the UK since 1 June 2025. If you're used to picking up a disposable, here's exactly what's still legal, what's changed, and how to keep using the flavours you're used to.
The short answer: any vape that's rechargeable and either refillable or uses a replaceable pod or cartridge remains completely legal. What's banned is the single-use, throw-away format specifically, not vaping itself.
What's Still Legal Now the Ban Is in Effect
Vapes with Pre-Filled Cartridges and Pods
Any device that stores its e-liquid in a pre-filled, replaceable cartridge or pod is unaffected by the ban, since the device itself is rechargeable and the empty part gets replaced rather than the whole thing thrown away. This includes all V2 Vsavi vape kits and other pre-filled pod-based devices on the market.
This is the closest match to a disposable in terms of day-to-day simplicity: keep the battery charged, and click in a new cartridge or pod when the old one runs out. Flavour choice is more limited than with a fully refillable device, and pre-filled pods typically cost more per ml than bottled e-liquid over time, but there's genuinely very little to learn.
Vapes with Refillable Tanks and Pods
Any device with a refillable tank or pod, from a simple pod kit through to a full vape mod, also remains completely legal. This includes V2 Vsavi e-liquid kits and vape pens.
Refillable devices work with any bottled e-liquid, so flavour and nicotine strength choice is far wider than with pre-filled pods, and running costs are lower over time. They need a bit more hands-on maintenance, topping up the tank and replacing coils occasionally, but that's genuinely the only real trade-off.
Worth knowing: refillable, higher-capacity tanks are generally built for lower nicotine strengths, not higher ones, since running a strong nicotine salt through a big-cloud setup tends to produce a harsh throat hit rather than a better experience. If you're coming from a disposable's nicotine strength, our nicotine strength calculator helps match it properly to a refillable setup.
Missing Your Disposable's Flavours? Most Are Now Sold in Bottles
The format changed, but the flavours mostly haven't gone anywhere. Several of the biggest disposable brands now sell their signature flavours as bottled e-liquid instead, designed to work in refillable pods and tanks:
- Maryliq (Lost Mary)
- Elfliq (Elf Bar)
- IVG
- Pod Salt
If you used one of these brands before the ban, switching to a refillable device with the equivalent bottled liquid gets you back to a genuinely similar flavour and nicotine experience, just in a pod or tank rather than a disposable shell. For a closer look at how one specific brand has handled the shift, our guide to the future of Elf Bar after the disposable ban goes into more detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
When were disposable vapes banned in the UK?
The ban on selling or supplying single-use disposable vapes took effect on 1 June 2025 in England, under the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024, with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland introducing their own equivalent legislation to align with the same date. It applies to businesses selling or supplying disposables, not to anyone who already owned one at the time.
Why were disposable vapes banned?
Two main reasons: they're difficult to recycle properly and were contributing significantly to fire risk and environmental waste, and their appeal, bright colours, sweet flavours, low cost, was seen as a factor in rising underage vaping. The government's own announcement at the time set out both reasons.
What exactly counts as a disposable vape under the ban?
Any single-use device that can't be recharged and can't be refilled. If a device is rechargeable and either refillable or takes a replaceable pod or cartridge, it's legal regardless of how similar it looks to a disposable in size or branding.
Is the Tobacco and Vapes Bill actually law now?
Yes. It received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026 and is now the Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026. Alongside continuing the disposables ban already in place, its best-known measure is a rolling “smokefree generation” policy: nobody born on or after 1 January 2009 will ever legally be sold tobacco products in the UK. Retailers have until 1 January 2027 to comply and display the required signage. The Act also gives the government power to introduce further restrictions on vape packaging, flavour naming and product design in future, none of which have been confirmed yet.
Is there a new tax on vaping products too?
Yes, separate from this ban. The Vaping Products Duty takes effect on 1 October 2026 at a flat £2.20 per 10ml of e-liquid. Our UK Vape Tax 2026 guide covers exactly what that means for what you buy, and our report from inside the industry's UKVIA Forum covers the case being made against the rate itself.
For the full picture on UK vaping law more broadly, our guide to understanding UK vaping laws and regulations covers everything in one place.
Sources
- GOV.UK - Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024
- GOV.UK - Tobacco and Vapes Act 2026 Legislation
- GOV.UK - Tobacco and Vapes Bill becomes law
- GOV.UK - Government crackdown on single-use vapes
About the Author
Joe Delaney looks after the day to day running of V2 Cigs UK and writes its blogs.
When the blog recommends a device, he has used it - and for a leak test that means actually filling kits and trying to make them fail, pocket-carrying them and leaving them upside down overnight, rather than repeating manufacturer claims.
Health, safety and regulatory points are checked against named UK authorities such as the NHS and MHRA, and a product is only ever called "less harmful than smoking" where a UK authority says so. More about how he works, and the family story behind V2, is on Joe's author profile.
Vaping products are for adult smokers and existing vapers only. Vaping is not risk-free. Not suitable for non-smokers or anyone under 18.
Last updated: 10th September 2026.