Wondering what the year ahead holds for vaping? Get up to date with our guide to the trends we see on the horizon. We’re predicting a few different vaping trends for 2024, including a rise in sustainable options, more recyclable vapes and new regulations. Dive on in for more.
Big sustainability improvements in the vaping industry
It’s very clear that 2024 will usher in some big sustainability improvements throughout the vaping industry. The number of people considering the environmental impact of their everyday choices remains high in all walks of life, and we’re happy to see this extend to vaping.
The UKVIA and sustainability
The UKVIA (UK Vaping Industry Association), an organisation we’re proud to be a founding member of, recently launched their sustainable vaping hub. This handy online resource offers information on greatly reducing the environmental impact of vaping, with guidance for both individual vapers and for those who work within the industry.
UKVIA also launched the Sustainable Vaping Week campaign in October 2023, creating a focal point for raising awareness and mobilising the vaping industry into sharing ways for vapers to dispose of their vapes in a safe and sustainable way. It’s anticipated that the scheme will return in 2024, alongside various other endeavours.
Sustainability at Evapo
It’s important here at Evapo that we continue to support the vaping industry in its ambitions to be more sustainable, professional and well regulated. Our own sustainability efforts focus on everything from sourcing and using recyclable materials where possible, reducing our carbon footprint and championing the safe disposal of batteries and the use of rechargeable ones where practical.
We are also excited to have announced our partnership with using Feefo – the world’s largest verified reviews provider – to fund tree-planting projects in return for honest customer reviews. Feefo’s new sustainability feature, Treefo, allows us to launch sustainability feature to turn customer feedback into forests, helping us in our efforts to help the planet.
A move towards recyclable vapes and components
Recyclability is one of the key factors in creating a more sustainable industry and, with many vape brands already adapting their devices, we expect to see an even bigger upswing in the coming year. Our guide to sustainability and corporate responsibility lays out the ways that we support others in the vaping industry in efforts to promote sustainable vaping and we’re always delighted to hear of new options and innovations dropping.
For example, it was great to see the introduction of the ANDS Slix range in 2023. These uniquely designed devices offer vapers a more environmentally friendly disposable e-cigarette option, thanks to the incorporation of biodegradable and recyclable materials in place of single use plastic. They are also easy to take apart so that they can be recycled at home with your usual household waste (once the easy-to-remove battery has been taken out). The battery can then be dropped off at any local battery recycling point.
Elf Bar has committed to an attempt to achieve a closed-loop sustainable development by establishing a full-cycle recycling system by 2025. The brand also introduced new QUAQ mesh coil technology and Elf Bar 600V2 disposable vapes have the new QUAQ coil as well as a cell design that makes them easier to dismantle for recycling. The new coil technology reduces the power consumption of the device and helps contribute to a longer lifespan.
The introduction of new technologies such as these tend to pave the way for further advances. Expect to see the introduction of lots of new sustainability features from favourite brands as we move into 2024.
A shift from disposable vapes to prefilled or refillable kits
With sustainability being such a hot topic, we expect to see a gradual but sustained movement into other options. It’s likely that there will be a shift from disposable vapes towards prefilled pod kit and refillable vape kits.
Prefilled pod kits are one of the most straightforward starter kits around, which tends to make them very popular with people who are new to vaping but looking to avoid disposable options. They can be recharged and it’s possible to simply replace the pods when they run out. Prefilled pod kits have devices that are very easy to operate and typically don’t have any buttons or settings to think about.
On the other hand, when people are making the switch from disposable vapes mainly because they’re thinking about environmental impact, then we expect to see them transitioning to refillable vape kits. These devices have a pod or tank that can be refilled repeatedly, letting you switch up your flavours, and the pod or coil only needs to be replaced once the coil has burned out.
For more on ways to make the shift, have a read of our guide to disposable vapes alternatives.
Nicotine-free vapes
We expect the popularity of nicotine-free vapes to continue to grow in 2024, with the demand for zero nicotine disposable vapes as well as nicotine free vape kits and e-liquids remaining strong.
Why are nicotine-free vapes so popular? The one of the biggest benefits is the way that they can replace the physical act of smoking, mimicking the feel and hand to mouth action of smoking a cigarette when needed. They offer a way for people to replace the habitual routines associated with smoking with a much safer alternative. Some people choose to slowly transition from using e-liquids and vapes with nicotine, to those without. This allows them to reduce and then completely stop their nicotine intake, at their own pace, while still vaping. Other people, often those who classed themselves as light smokers, might start using a nicotine-free vape right away.
Another big positive for nicotine-free vapes is the fact that they can hold more e-liquid than vapes that contain nicotine. Regulations limit the amount of nicotine-containing e-liquid in disposable vapes to no more than 2ml of e-liquid with a maximum 20 mg/ml nicotine strength. This isn’t the case for those without.
They’re used by people who’re new to vaping as well as experienced vapers. Interested in seeing the options? Have a look at our guide to the best nicotine-free vapes.
New changes to vaping regulations in 2024
We can expect to see some changes to vaping regulations in 2024 as the UK government continues to support vaping as an alternative to smoking. The chief changes are likely to be around the regulation of youths and young people vaping and on enforcement.
The government is looking at a variety of proposals to discourage the marketing of vapes in a way that appeals to children, including the restriction of certain flavours, the restriction of certain types of disposable vapes, introducing an age restriction on the sale of nicotine free vapes and regulating vape packaging.
These options will be considered as a potential deterrent to young people alongside the impact they may have on adult smokers looking to quit, as vaping is widely regarded as being less harmful than smoking. Find out more in the recent policy paper Stopping the start: our new plan to create a smokefree generation.
At Evapo, we wholeheartedly agree in measures that support the government’s aims to deter young people from vaping and have introduced our own response to the legislation and comprehensive strategy to address youth vaping. There are a number of potential themes and suggestions on the table, including restrictions on flavours and disposable vapes, as well as the possibility of additional duty or taxation for vaping products. We look forward to contributing to the discussion in the coming year.
Enhanced enforcement of vaping regulations in 2024
Also high on the agenda will be the government’s approach to enforcement of regulations. The policy paper details some of the additional steps that the government will take to clamp down on businesses and individuals who are not following the regulation put in place to protect vapers and young people.
For a start, they’ll be providing an extra £30 million per year to support enforcement agencies like trading standards, Border Force and HMRC to implement and enforce the law (including enforcement of underage sales) and tackle illicit trade.
The government will also introduce new powers for local authorities, allowing them to issue on-the-spot fines to enforce age of sale legislation of vapes as well as tobacco products. They also plan to require enhanced age verification for online sales of vapes, to stop sales to underage buyers.
At Evapo, we appreciate the benefits of vaping regulations that help support the use of vapes for adults and that help us ensure the industry is safe and that buyers can trust reputable sellers.
Increased investment in vaping research and statistics
As vaping continues to grow in popularity and becomes a more established technology, we’ve seen a steady increase in the number of studies. We expect to see more of these appearing in 2024 coming from a variety of government bodies, independent scientific institutions and bodies within the vaping industry. The latest research and data about vaping shows a healthy number of resources and statistics that aid informed choice and we’re looking forward to seeing even more published into the next year and beyond.
A trend towards increasingly compact vapes
When it comes to technology, we often see devices get smaller and sleeker as innovations increase – and we can see this driving a trend towards more compact devices. There are lots of reasons that buyers enjoy using compact vapes (they’re more discreet, easier to store and to transport) and we’ve no doubt that the combination of consumer demand and increases in technology will see a strong showing for compact vapes in the coming months.
Our vaping trends are based on the data we’re seeing now and things that are likely to come into play throughout the year ahead. We’re looking forward to seeing more great strides in sustainability, research and technology in 2024 and will be sharing news and trends as and when we spot them.
