Hansard

The Convener Con

Welcome back to the meeting. I apologise for the fact that we are running a wee bit late, as another item was added to the agenda earlier. However, if peopl...

The Acting Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Energy (Gillian Martin) SNP

I will keep it brief, convener. Thank you for the invitation to give you evidence this morning. We want to ban the sale and supply of single-use vapes in or...

The Convener Con

Thank you, cabinet secretary. Jackie Dunbar has the first question.

Jackie Dunbar SNP

Good morning, cabinet secretary. My first question has probably been answered, but is there anything further that you wish to add as to why the Scottish Gove...

Gillian Martin SNP

We want to take single-use vapes—or disposable vapes, as they are better known—out of the economy altogether. For a number of reasons, there is no ability to...

Jackie Dunbar SNP

It is vital that we separate the single-use vapes from the vaping products that are used as a smoking cessation tool. I am a former smoker who used to use va...

Gillian Martin SNP

No. If we were to put in place a requirement for local authorities to collect and recycle these types of disposable vapes, that would be the cost of it. They...

Jackie Dunbar SNP

I am sorry; I picked that up wrong, and I apologise. Do we know the current cost to local authorities of single-use vapes?

Gillian Martin SNP

I am not sure whether it is quantifiable, so I will look to my officials.

David McPhee (Scottish Government)

I do not have the exact figure for the recycling point, but what we know from our impact assessment is—

Jackie Dunbar SNP

Sorry, I just want an overall figure.

David McPhee

At the moment, most of them are dealt with through residual waste, because that is where they are put. Most of the disposable vapes are not being recycled, a...

Jackie Dunbar SNP

Thank you, convener. I appreciate that.

The Convener Con

Thank you, Jackie. I have a few questions, but I will make an observation first. Cabinet secretary, it was interesting that you said that disposable vapes ar...

Gillian Martin SNP

There are a number of things in there. All four nations have tried to engineer the regulations to future proof them to make sure that the definition that was...

The Convener Con

In relation to rechargeable and reusable vapes, vapes that allow one refill before becoming useless could be cheaper than ones that can be refilled numerous ...

Gillian Martin SNP

I am not entirely familiar with reusable devices that would work only a couple of times. It seems to me that, if you were going to invest in something of a c...

The Convener Con

I do not know. All that I am saying is that, if you can get a vape with a cheap battery that can be recharged a couple of times or one with an expensive batt...

David McPhee

Carolyn Boyd might want to come in, too, because she is closer to the regulations. I confirm again that we have worked closely with people in trading standa...

The Convener Con

My point is that, with computer printers, for example, we went through a stage when it was cheaper to buy a new printer than it was to buy the ink cartridges...

Gillian Martin SNP

We need to be alive to any kind of modifications that there could be to things that are on the market. As I have said, the four nations have worked together ...

The Convener Con

Mark Ruskell has a follow-up question, and then it might be appropriate to bring in Carolyn Boyd if she wants to come in.

Mark Ruskell Green

If manufacturers could bring the price of rechargeable vapes down to the same price as disposable vapes, would people not just buy rechargeable ones but cont...

Gillian Martin SNP

I think that taxing the devices was considered as an option. Zero Waste Scotland’s scoping report looked at the options for managing the environmental impact...

Mark Ruskell Green

I absolutely welcome that. I suppose that it is a question of whether we trust the vaping industry, given where it has been and what it has developed into, t...

Gillian Martin SNP

In its consultation, the UK Government included a proposal to introduce a duty on all vapes. I am trying to think whether that was a pre-general election com...

The Convener Con

The deputy convener has some questions. 10:45

Ben Macpherson SNP

On the points that have just been made, we will also need to keep an eye on what the European Union does in this space, because when that huge market begins ...

Gillian Martin SNP

Yes.

Ben Macpherson SNP

Over the summer, when I was out and about in my constituency, I talked to a lot of small businesses about a variety of issues. The convener said that he had ...