Aberdeen City Council has called for a ban on disposable vapes over fears they are negatively impacting health and the environment.
Top officials are to work out any potential implications of banning the single use devices for the local authority.
There will also be a citywide communications blitz, highlighting the environmental and health impacts of them.
Councillor Kairin van Sweeden suggested the council take action after warning of the “detrimental” effect they have on health and the environment.
She was supported unanimously by members of the city environment committee on Tuesday.
Vapes ‘a scourge in many ways’
The SNP Tillydrone, Seaton and Old Aberdeen member raised the issue after hearing about the increasing problems the gadgets are creating.
“Vapes were brought in to help people stop smoking,” she explained.
“While they were first seen as being passive they are now a scourge in many ways.
“Lots of young people use them and they are left on the ground or our beaches and end up in the sea.
“We need to do something serious about this.”
Council chiefs are also to write to the Scottish Government pledging support for a ban on vapes.
Disposable vapes ‘harmful’ to children and pets
Ms van Sweeden also told the committee that the battery-powered gadgets were a “waste of precious resources”.
“These devices are made up of plastic, lithium, copper, and of course contain liquid nicotine,” she explained.
“Liquid nicotine is harmful if swallowed or if it gets onto your skin.
“We do not want small children to pick up these single use vapes, or for our beloved pets to attempt to eat them.”
She added: “The cost of recycling all the disposable single use vapes bought in the UK could be up to £69 million per year.
“This is a cost councils shouldn’t bear.”
Annual vape waste could cover area of 22 football pitches
Research by Material Focus, an independent not-for-profit organisation, revealed that a staggering 139 million single use vapes are bought in the UK per year.
Of this sum, a whopping 1.3 million are thrown away every week.
It is estimated that annual vape waste could cover an area equivalent to 22 football pitches.
And there is a worry the gadgets are ending up in landfill instead of being recycled properly.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service believes the fire at the Altens recycling centre last summer could have been started by a vape.
But due to the devastation, the actual cause may never be known.
Are other councils behind the vape ban?
Earlier this year, the Scottish Government commissioned a review into the environmental impacts and management of single use vapes.
The project will be led by recycling quango Zero Waste Scotland.
And Aberdeen isn’t the only local authority to back a potential ban.
The leader of Moray Council will also write to the Scottish and UK governments in a bid to stop the sale of the disposable devices.
Meanwhile, members of Argyll and Bute Council have urged ministers to implement a ban “as soon as possible”.
Trading Standards teams vow to continue cracking down on youngsters being sold vapes
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