British supermarket chain Waitrose has been accused of hypocrisy for stopping the sale of disposable e-cigarettes in the name of protecting the environment but continuing to offer cigarettes.

The vaping industry called the move a hypocritical "virtue signalling" and slammed the decision of the UK's first supermarket to stop selling disposable e-cigarettes.

Announcing the decision, Waitrose's commercial director Charlotte DiCello said in a statement: "We are a retailer doing the right thing and as such we cannot justify sales due to the impact on the environment and consumer health. Disposable e-cigarettes are reasonable.

“We’ve decided it’s not right to stockpile the rapidly growing trendy bright-colored devices — so this decision is the last piece of the puzzle where we have clearly decided not to belong in the disposable e-cigarette market.”

However, industry experts have stepped forward and suggested that people use ecological electronic cigarettes to reduce their impact on the environment. They also believe that cigarettes are more harmful to people's health than e-cigarettes.

Marcus Lindblad of smoke-free nicotine pouch company Haypp told Express.co.uk: "We respect Waitrose's sustainability stance. However, to be truly sustainable, you need a more holistic approach.

"If more retailers follow Waitrose's example, we will leave smokers with no choice but to die prematurely. The way forward is for businesses to work with e-cigarette manufacturers to develop more sustainable ways to use e-cigarettes. "

"Usually, you don't die from vaping. That's a unique advantage of vaping compared to smoking."

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has previously said that vaping devices such as e-cigarettes have played a major role in reducing smoking rates in the UK.

Last month, the ONS estimated that there would be around 6.6 million smokers in the UK by 2021, accounting for about 13.3% of the total in the UK and 13% in England.

This is down from 14.0% across the UK and 13.8% in England in 2020.

Neil McLaren, co-chief executive of Vaping dot com, said Waitrose would be happy with some cheap headlines following its decision to stop selling disposable e-cigarettes. But since they are happy to keep selling cigarettes, this virtue-signaling operation smacks of hypocrisy.

“Supermarkets should be taking cigarettes — the most littered item on the planet — off their shelves, and not be picky about e-cigarettes.”

"If they stop selling cigarettes, then they can have a real impact on public health and the planet. But if all they want is cheap headlines, then sober commentary from the PR department seems to do just fine."

Figures released in September showed that around one in 10 people in England, Wales and Scotland use e-cigarettes.

They are usually 80% cheaper than cigarettes.

However, Waitrose said the research highlighted that the majority of e-cigarette users had not smoked cigarettes before.

Mike Cameron, founder and CEO of e-cigarette company SMOKO, said: Ban all e-cigarettes, while they continue to sell tobacco products, sugary drinks and sweets, highly processed foods, if you take it to the extreme - still Selling any animal product does seem hypocritical.

“Consumers make choices every day about the products they want to buy—whether based on their dietary requirements or beliefs (aka gluten-free or vegan) or a brand’s environmental impact, so grocery stores should allow customers to make choices. choose."

"Tobacco and cigarette smoking is the largest preventable cause of death in the UK. So it would be misguided indeed for grocery chains to stop selling product categories that are 95% less harmful."

"However, it would make sense if they just stopped selling disposables."

John Dunn, director general of the UK Vaping Industry Association, said: "UKVIA and our members are in discussions with a number of waste companies to create recycling solutions suitable for the purposes of the vaping industry.

"The industry recognizes its responsibility to the environment, but e-cigarette recycling is not simple as it requires collaboration between adult vapers, retailers, manufacturers, regulators and companies involved in waste management. current producer compliance program.”

“So far, the e-cigarette industry has been genuinely confused about their responsibilities under the WEEE directive. Earlier this year, the Institute for Environmental Management and Evaluation cited uncertainty about whether the regulations would cover the types of batteries found in e-cigarettes, and questioned Existing recycling infrastructure to support a more sustainable industry.”

“That’s why our entire industry is trying to find a waste management solution that minimizes the environmental impact of vaping, especially when it comes to disposables, so people see what they do best – help Adult smokers quit to make it a habit, saving millions of lives and saving millions of pounds for the health service."

"We are liaising with DEFRA and the Office of Product Safety and Standards and are calling on our members and the wider industry to innovate products and make them easier for waste management to recycle."

A spokesman for the supermarket said: "We sell tobacco products legally, but also offer alternatives to help users quit smoking.

"While cigarette sales have declined significantly in recent years, the market for disposable e-cigarettes is new and growing rapidly - including among young non-smokers. These devices also have a damaging impact on the environment, so we don't want to be a part of that."

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