The controversial disposable e-cigarettes are sold far less in German stores than before. While their share of the legal domestic vaping market was 40 percent in 2022 according to an industry estimate, it is expected to be only 15 percent by the end of 2024 and around 10 percent next year, said the managing director of the Alliance for Tobacco-Free Enjoyment (BfTG), Philip Drögemüller, at the Intertabac trade fair in Dortmund. The association represents retailers and manufacturers.
On the one hand, companies are preparing for the 2027 ban on the sale of these devices, whose batteries are not rechargeable or easily replaceable, according to the industry representative. On the other hand, stores are increasingly offering reusable devices, which also have price advantages for consumers. With such devices, the liquids that are vaporized and inhaled can be refilled – either via cartridges (pods) or with bottles that fill a small tank.
Criticism of disposable items
The products, which are often offered in eye-catching color designs, are particularly popular among young people. Environmentalists are critical of the disposable items because they waste raw materials. Representatives of the waste disposal industry, on the other hand, warn of fire risks in garbage trucks and sorting plants if the e-cigarettes are not disposed of properly as electronic waste, but in normal household waste.
In specialist shops, customers are advised to use more sustainable systems and to move away from disposable items, says Horst Winkler from the Association of the e-Cigarette Trade (VdeH). “We are doing this with great success.” He also expects that sales of disposable items will continue to fall, but warns of a growing black market, where disposable items are already being offered on a massive scale. He appeals to the state to take decisive action against this and to remedy the current “enforcement deficit”.
Industry is increasingly focusing on reusable products
When asked why the shops are still selling the controversial products when consumer interest in the reusable version is increasing so much, BfTG Managing Director Drögemüller says: “It is a product that has of course been extremely successful in recent years. The success is decreasing, but it is not yet at zero.”
The trend away from disposable products can also be seen at the stands at the trade fair, which started on Thursday. The managing director of the German subsidiary of the Chinese e-cigarette manufacturer Reymont, Selim Özder, reports that his company still offers disposable products in this country, but will stop selling them at the end of the year. At its trade fair stand, Reymont is promoting reusable systems with which the company hopes to increase its business in the coming year. The prospects are good, says Özder. “Customers are switching to refillable devices because it makes more sense.”
The supplier Gold Bar, which advertised its disposable products on a large scale at the Intertabac last year and is now once again present at the industry event, now has a reusable version in store. Competitor Elfbar is taking a similar approach: disposable products are still available at its exhibition stand, but a company representative describes them as an “old product”. “The future is refillable,” she says, pointing to corresponding new products.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240919-930-237492/1
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