John Lewis Partnership-owned Waitrose will stop selling single use vaping products due to environmental concerns, the supermarket chain has said.

The supermarket said it was concerned about the amount of plastic and lithium ending up in landfill, which is estimated to be around 10 tonnes.

Waitrose also said it had concerns about selling e-cigarettes to young non-smoking vapers who are attracted to the bright colours and sweet soft drink and dessert-based flavours. The company cited reports which showed market growth driven by people who had never smoked.

Commenting on the news Charlotte Di Cello, commercial director for Waitrose, said: "We are a retailer driven by doing the right thing, so selling single use vapes is not something we could justify given the impact on both the environment and the health of young people.

"We had already decided it wasn't right to stock the fashionable bright coloured devices which are seeing rapid growth – so this decision is the final jigsaw piece in our clear decision not to be part of the single use vaping market."

Waitrose was recently accused of stock shortages due to technical issues with its enterprise resource planning system (ERP). The company has denied the claims.

Share Story: