By Dan Vevers

Copyright dailyrecord

Scotland’s disposable vapes ban has been branded a failure due to loopholes which allow virtually identical new products to be sold. Waste firm Biffa warned last week new laws have done nothing to stop people throwing away millions of devices. They’re described as “bombs in bins” because vapes’ lithium batteries can easily ignite if crushed. Blazes in bin lorries and waste facilities are claimed to be on the rise. Edinburgh-based vapes chain VPZ, which backed the disposables ban but warned it isn’t strong enough, has now called for all pre-filled vapes and pods, which are mostly imported from China, to be outlawed. Operations boss Jamie Strachan said: “While the ban on disposable vapes was intended to reduce environmental harm, it has not addressed the root of the problem. “Pre-filled pods and single-use devices continue to flood the market, and are still being discarded at an alarming rate. “It has created an ongoing burden , causing fires, damaging equipment, and increasing operational costs. “Because the cost of these pods is roughly the same as starter kits, many users simply discard the device and buy a new kit rather than replace pods. “Our findings show many retailers do not consistently stock replacement pods, reinforcing this behaviour.” Strachan added underage vapers had increasingly turned to pre-filled pods. Latest Public Health Scotland figures show one in four 15-year-old Scots use vapes. Strachan said: “These products are increasingly linked to illicit activity, with reports of them spiked with substances such as Spice and THC.” In the week after the UK-wide ban on single-use vapes on June 1, the Sunday Mail revealed stores across Scotland continued to sell disposable devices. Meanwhile we told how gadgets, virtually identical in appearance and price to classic disposable vapes, dubbed “pre-filled pods”, had flooded the market, fitted with charging ports and removable pods that could be replaced. It’s feared customers treat them as disposables, using them once then throwing them away – either as street litter or in bins where they can spark fires. Scott Butler of anti-waste group Material Focus said: “Vape producers, and importers and retailers’ failure to provide and pay for legally required recycling is fuelling the rise in fires. Recycling needs to be much easier.” On Tuesday, Biffa warned the ban was not working and they were seeing “more vapes in our system, causing more fires than ever before”. Compared to April and May, the number mixed with general recycling at Biffa facilities rose by three per cent in the three months since the ban. In June, Biffa had to deal with 60 fires across the UK caused by vapes and other small electrical items.