Scotland's “vape crusader” Laura Young has hailed the momentum behind the campaign to outlaw polluting disposable e-cigs after Glasgow City Council backed the call.
The young activist said the move by Scotland’s largest local authority to support a national ban on disposable vapes was “extremely encouraging”.
Ms Young said she hoped more councils would follow suit as Glasgow became the third local authority to back a ban, following similar declarations by Dundee and Renfrewshire chiefs.
Glasgow City Council will write to Scottish ministers throwing its weight behind outlawing the throwaway gadgets amid the Record’s campaign to highlight the growing pollution menace linked to the products.
In the wake of our coverage, the Scottish Government announced in January it would launch an “urgent review” into single-use vaping products with a potential ban on the cards.
Ms Young, a PhD student from Dundee, has spent months raising awareness of the environmental and litter threat from disposable vapes, with her efforts seeing her dubbed the “vape crusader”.
The 26-year-old told the Record: “Now that Dundee City Council has led the way with supporting the ban of disposable vapes, it’s extremely encouraging to see a further two councils add their support.
“With backing from Scotland’s largest, Glasgow City Council, alongside Renfrewshire Council, we are seeing more voices request the Scottish Government does the same.
“Let’s hope this is the beginning of more councils joining in to voice their concerns over these problematic devices.
“The momentum is clearly with our campaign.”
We’ve told how the explosion in popularity of throwaway e-cigs has turned Scots streets and parks into a plastic dumping ground.
As well as single-use plastic waste, the devices also blight our public spaces with hazardous chemicals harmful to wildlife, as well as posing a fire risk when they end up in general landfill.
That’s due to vapes containing precious lithium batteries - with research last week saying enough are thrown away every year to power 2500 electric cars.
Backing calls for a ban at a meeting on Tuesday, Glasgow councillors said they were concerned about both the environmental and health impact of the products.
Councillor Elaine McSporran, chair of the council’s Environment and Liveable Neighbourhoods Committee, voiced fears that brightly coloured and sweetly flavoured single-use vapes are designed to appeal to underage users.
She’ll now write to SNP-Green ministers to relay the council’s support for a ban.
We told last week how rates of underage teens who admit vape regularly have soared, with a tenth of 15-year-old Scots admitting they do it.
Green councillor Jon Molyneux, who brought the motion, said: "Single-use vapes are unnecessary and the all-too-obvious evidence on our streets is that they are giving rise to another harmful throwaway culture.
"I'm delighted that environment committee members in Glasgow agreed unanimously to support the Scottish Greens in calling for a ban.
"We obviously hope the Scottish Government's urgent review results in a ban - but that shouldn't also stop councils acting now.”
Renfrewshire Council backed a ban at a meeting on March 2, while Dundee was the first to support outlawing the devices after a presentation to councillors from Ms Young on February 20.
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