Vape products redesigned to avoid a legislative crackdown on single-use devices may do little to dent the environmental scourge of e-cigarette waste, experts have warned.

Manufacturers have been evolving their products after the UK government introduced a ban on disposables, due to come into force in April 2025.

On Wednesday, the British Medical Association said vapes should only be sold behind the counter, and recommended stronger regulation of the industry including a ban on the sale of disposable vapes.

A disposable vape is defined as one designed for single use that is not refillable or rechargeable. Five million are thrown away each week, according to research, and a ban was proposed to reduce their environmental impact.

Elfbar and Lost Mary, sister brands that together make up more than half of the UK’s disposable vape sales, have launched reusable versions.

The newer vapes have a liquid containing nicotine in a replaceable pod and a USB port to recharge the battery, allowing the body of the vape to be reused. New “big puff” also have a recyclable battery and contain four recyclable pods of vape liquid.

Critics have said the newer products could lead to more pod waste, even as they potentially reduce battery waste. They said that, given the products’ low cost and a continuing lack of recycling services, consumers could continue to treat them as disposable.

Scott Butler, the executive director at the not-for-profit organisation Material Focus, said vape producers and importers had made the adaptations “to move their products just outside the scope of a likely disposable vape definition”.

The prices of the new vapes are comparable with existing disposables, and sometimes cheaper for each puff. “It is as easy to buy a vape as it is to buy a bag of crisps or chocolate bars. Instead, it should be as easy to recycle one as to buy one,” Butler said.

“Producers, importers and retailers of vapes are still legally required to offer and finance take-back and recycling and 90% of them are still not doing this, so now is the time for them to step up.”

Kate Pike, the lead officer for tobacco and vaping at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said some vape manufacturers were being “innovative” in redesigning products with the potential to be less damaging to the environment.

However, she added: “The price of the pod products is not significantly greater than the single-use disposable vape. Will consumers treat them as disposable even though they can be reused? The pod products will still need to be taken to a vape retailer and the vape retailer will still have to offer collections and they will still have to send the vapes off for recycling.

“It is likely to be more complex for them as it is quite possible the pod itself (which contains the coil) will need to be collected and sent for recycling separately from the device. I fear there is already little compliance with the responsibilities to collect and recycle vapes and I am not sure this will change.”

A quarter of a billion disposable vapes could be dumped before a ban comes in next year, as most retailers are not fulfilling their legal duty to help consumers recycle them, according to research by Material Focus.

The not-for-profit found that more than 90% of vape producers and retailers seemed not to provide or pay for the return and recycling of single-use e-cigarettes. High street brands and convenience stores were among the worst offenders, providing few or no recycling drop-off points, it found.

Researchers visited more than 700 retail stores looking for drop-off-points or asking if they could get their vape recycled, after seeing the products advertised for sale. Even some that said they ran take-back schemes told shoppers they would not take the products.

An Elfbar spokesperson said the company “refute[s] any suggestion that we are trying to circumvent any proposed restrictions”. It added that it “worked with producer compliance schemes to ensure the costs of recycling vapes are met, and this is also evolving due to the new waste, electrical and electronic equipment directive requirements, which we support”.

The spokesperson said Elfbar supplied thousands of vape bins across the UK through retail partners to support the recycling process.