Chamber and committees

In the local authority where I live, Falkirk, the easiest places to take single-use vapes to are local waste centres or tips around the area. A lot of the time, people need a car to be able to get there, so that initially puts them off going. Taking vapes back to the shop that they are going to buy their next vape from is much easier than what happens in the current system.

Mr Mountain is smiling, so I hope that I have at least convinced him in the general direction of the amendment.

Such voluntary schemes are already under way in some retail outlets, but the amendment would allow that to be strengthened and expanded across more retailers. I appreciate the difficulties that the amendment gives the Government because of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020, but it is important that we take every opportunity possible to raise the issue. It is an environmental and health issue, and it requires cross-Government work. We need the Scottish Government to use the regulation-making powers that it has to reduce the environmental harm that is caused by vapes, and we need to ensure that we take action quickly. The current delay means that products are already evolving to try to get around being disposable or single use, and that puts us on the back foot again.

Getting it right is important, but we need to do it quickly, because single-use products are doing harm to health and the environment every day. There has been a rise in the number of disposable electronics, and we need to take serious action.

I seek the minister’s assurance that the Scottish Government will set a timeline for the introduction of a ban on single-use vapes as soon as possible after 4 July. If that approach is not forthcoming, will it seek to introduce legislation here? Will it use its existing powers to reduce harm and litter by putting disposable vapes behind cover, as is the case for conventional cigarettes?

I acknowledge the work that the Scottish Government has done to date to highlight the health and environmental harms of single-use vapes and the commitment to work on a four-nations basis on a ban. I lodged the amendment to place a ban on single-use vapes in the bill. I am responding to concerns that the ban that has previously been agreed may be delayed due to the current election. A delay will not necessarily happen due to a change in policy or sentiment but simply because it takes time to introduce legislation. I am concerned about the timescale for taking the four-nations approach to introduce a ban.

The real harms that single-use vapes are causing every day mean that we cannot risk waiting. Indeed, a report for Zero Waste Scotland estimated that the total emissions that were associated with single-use vapes in 2022 were between 3,375 and 4,292 tonnes of CO₂; that is the equivalent of the emissions from 2,100 cars on the road. It also showed that the weight of packaging and materials that are discarded as a result of single-use e-cigarette consumption in Scotland is between 800 and 1,000 tonnes per year. Other figures show that 1.3 million single-use vapes were thrown away every week in the United Kingdom last year, although that figure is likely to be far greater now.

It is an impending environmental catastrophe. In the middle of a climate crisis, the last thing that we need is another polluting single-use product, and a ban on disposables is the minimum that we need to protect the planet.

Amendment 71 would see powers to implement a ban on single-use vapes placed in Scots law. It would also enable ministers to put in place an interim scheme that would require retailers to take back single-use vapes.

There are different ways to operate a take-back scheme, such as with some form of deposit on the product. If retailers are happy to sell the products, they should also be happy to take them back and recycle them in the appropriate manner.

Does the minister agree that more needs to be done on enforcement? I am sure that many members on all sides of the chamber will go into their local supermarket and many local shops, where they will see that there are, in fact, no obvious take-back places under the current schemes. It is clear that those schemes are not working in certain places, or that certain retailers are not adhering to them, and there is therefore more that we could do, despite well-intentioned and good schemes being in place.

Yes—that variation is regularly brought to the attention of MSPs.

Did most of your study’s recommendations concern implementation? Were there conclusions around the need for the 2013 act to be amended? What are the top findings from your study that the committee should look at in order to bring about improvements?

Yes—it does.

That is really useful—thank you.

Yes.

My next question is for all the witnesses.

Local authorities collect data and all of you collect data—there are layers and layers of organisations collecting data from service users, and they are not always joining up across the piece in order to gain a wider overview. Should we be gathering additional data or evidence, or should we just join up all the information about the outcomes for individuals that is being gathered by various organisations in order to get that bigger picture?

Good morning, panel. I have a couple of questions for James Mahon first, then probably one for the whole panel. What benchmarking was available to you, as researchers, at the start of your evaluation of implementation of SDS? Was the data sufficient and, if not, what else would you have liked or needed at that point?