Paws On Plastic (@pawsonplastic) has highlighted potentially dangerous litter related to a recent U.K. ban.
The picturesque Dunnottar Woods in Scotland is ideal for hiking and dog walking. However, Paws on Plastic showed a photo of unsightly blight found there that's also common throughout the country — a discarded vape.
Do you still find #vape litter?
— Paws On Plastic #pawsonplastic (@pawsonplastic) September 18, 2025
This packet was found in Dunnottar Woods #Stonehaven
Since the June ban there are reports of reusable vapes being thrown away like disposables & increased fires at recycling centres. Disposables may of course been stockpiled before the ban. pic.twitter.com/pLnXnwp3Le
Sadly, birds and marine animals have often mistaken vapes for food, leading to harmful chemical ingestion and potential choking.
The same can happen to a curious pup. For example, the BBC reported in February that vets were able to save a 13-year-old dog who swallowed a vape pod while on a walk in Kent.
As of June 2025, the sale of single-use vapes is illegal in the U.K. One reason for the ban is the concern over the increase in youth vaping and related nicotine addiction, which can harm adolescent brain development. Users can also suffer severe lung damage, exposure to lead, and increased cancer risk from e-cigarette aerosol, according to the CDC.
The substantial amount of waste they create also helped the ban come into effect.
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While someone may use a disposable vape for a few days, the fallout from their waste can linger much longer. The cartridges are nearly impossible to recycle due to the use of mixed materials that include plastic and lithium.
So, they often end up in the trash or as litter anywhere from a parking lot to a random roadside. That plastic can take hundreds of years to break down while giving off toxic emissions. The mined lithium goes to waste when it can be recycled for use in green energy projects.
Plus, improperly discarded lithium batteries are a major safety hazard.
Paws on Plastic wrote, "Since the June ban, there are reports of reusable vapes being thrown away like disposables & increased fires at recycling centres."
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No way 🙅 While it won't solve the problem overnight, government action is still a big step in protecting youth development, the environment, and unsuspecting animals in the wild. "I think it will take a while to see an effect, although there's definitely been a decrease here," Paws on Plastic further remarked in the comments.
From the U.K. to the USA, people can take local action by not littering and discussing environmental concerns. That way, people may be more mindful not to work against existing policies meant to protect the community (i.e., creating toxic litter from a banned product).
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