According to Presse Portal on November 20th, the Federal Council of Germany will be voting on an amendment to the Electrical Law. This approval pertains to the handling of disposable e-cigarettes.
According to an evaluation by the German Environmental Aid organization (DUH), the federal government's planned retail recycling regulations are insufficient to solve the growing problem of waste piles, environmental issues, and fire hazards caused by improper disposal of disposable e-cigarettes.
Federal Executive Director Barbara Metz commented, "As called for by the Senate Committee on Environment, federal states must implement a ban on disposable e-cigarettes in the Electrical Law. Germany consumes at least 60 million disposable e-cigarettes each year, which could potentially lead to fires if they are improperly disposed of as regular trash or placed in yellow waste bins due to the lithium batteries they contain."
"The proposal by the federal government to start a retail recycling program in July 2026 is not only too late but also unlikely to change the disastrous way disposable devices are being handled. This is because there is no incentive for consumers to actually return their disposable devices to the stores. Most importantly, these disposable devices are inherently wasteful and harmful to health. Other European countries have already recognized this issue: aside from Belgium and France, the UK is now also banning disposable e-cigarettes. We urge states in the federal government to contribute to this effort and for Germany to follow suit."
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