Fed up Lanarkshire locals are hoping to take action after coming across increasing amounts of disposable vape pens littering the streets.
Members of Hamilton and Blantyre Litter Pickers have signed a petition to have single-use vapes banned following concerns of huge amounts of plastic not being recycled.
Volunteers are particularly alarmed to see hundreds of the electronic nicotine products carelessly strewn outside local schools.
And one incidence even landed a dog in the vet after it ate one of the batteries from a device that had been dumped in public.
Hoping to see disposable vapes banned altogether, Hamilton and Blantyre Litter Pickers member John McLean told Lanarkshire Live: "It's building up. We're noticing it more and more.
"It's been getting flagged up a lot on the group, and somebody's dog was actually harmed from eating the battery out of one that was left and ended up at the vet.
"We're seeing more and more of it. It's e-waste which needs to be disposed of properly.
"Our pet hate in the litter group is plastic because it stays around for years and years.
"We want to see them banned all together, there's lots of petitions out there calling for that. These vapes are bad for you and now they're glamorising them.
"They're now attracting kids which is worrying. It's unbelievable. We want to see a total ban on them because they're bad for the environment.
"We've actually seen a lot of them outside schools where there's been a big increase. This is bad because we don't want kids to see littering as a normal thing."
The group have came together to sign the Scottish Green's national petition which sets out to combat vaping products harming local streets, parks, rivers and beaches.
South Lanarkshire Council are well aware of the issue of disposable vapes being littered in local streets.
And the local authority has warned that those caught discarding items could be hit with an immediate £80 fine.
Kevin Carr, Head of Facilities, Waste and Grounds Services, said: “We are aware of the increased amounts of discarded vapes and other disposable plastics in the area.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Hamilton and Blantyre Litter Pickers and all the other groups in our area who do a tremendous amount of voluntary work to help the council’s grounds services teams in dealing with litter that continues to blight our communities and spoils the enjoyment for so many law-abiding people who enjoy spending time outdoors.
“Anyone dropping litter can receive an on-the-spot fine of £80 from our Community Wardens, which if not paid could lead to a £2500 fine in court.
“We also urge anyone to report littering by contacting our Anti-Social behaviour team.”
For more info on this you can go to SLC's Community Wardens webpage.
Concerns on disposable vapes have already been raised in recent months with Uddingston and Bellshill MSP Stephanie Callaghan demanding action after seeing an increase in children using them.
She said: “The current explosion in cheap, disposable vape bars seems to encourage recreational use by young people who have never smoked.
"While evidence shows that vapes are less harmful than tobacco, we don’t yet know the long-term health harms of breathing vape liquids into our lungs.
"That’s why I believe urgent action is needed to protect our young people and avoid a new generation of nicotine addicts.”
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