Germany plans ban on disposable e-cigarettes

Germany is drafting legislation to ban disposable e-cigarettes, the country's environment minister announced Friday, citing a surge in fires at waste processing plants triggered by the devices.

Minister Carsten Schneider said the federal government intends to submit a draft bill to parliament in the coming months that would effectively end the sale of single-use vapes nationwide.

The devices are frequently discarded in household trash or recycling bags rather than treated as hazardous electronic waste. Schneider told reporters that the lithium-ion batteries tucked inside the plastic casings can ignite when crushed or punctured by sorting machinery.

He warned that this poses a significant physical risk to sanitation and facility workers during the sorting process. He added that, beyond the immediate safety concerns, disposable e-cigarettes were not compatible with the country's broader environmental objectives and recycling targets.