Vapes

A puff count is a manufacturer claim rather than a measurement of real world use. There is no test method every manufacturer applies, and actual use is usually well below the printed figure. Draw length, draw strength, the interval between draws and the temperature the device is kept at all change the total, so the number on the box is a reference figure rather than a count anyone should expect to reach. Two devices carrying the same number were not necessarily arrived at in the same way. It functions as a way of ranking one device against another rather than as a promise about either.

Four figures appear on most packaging. Puff count is the manufacturer claim described above. E-liquid volume is given in millilitres and states how much liquid the device holds. Nicotine strength is written in milligrams per millilitre, and the percentage sometimes printed beside it is the same measurement expressed differently: divide the milligram figure by ten to get it. Battery capacity is given in mAh, which describes stored charge and not how long a device lasts. Flavour variants are named on the box as well, and the variant does not change any of those four figures.

A disposable is sealed. Its battery, its liquid and its coil are fixed at manufacture, and the whole unit is discarded once the liquid is finished. Rechargeable and refillable are the two other device categories.

Not in household waste. Every one of these devices contains a lithium battery, and in a sealed unit that battery cannot be taken out, which puts the whole device in the same disposal category as other small electronics. Municipal arrangements differ from one area to the next in South Africa, so the route is a battery or e-waste collection point rather than a household bin. Local authority guidance sets out what each area accepts.

Yes. Vaping products fall under excise duty in South Africa. It applies to the nicotine and nicotine substitute solution, it is charged per millilitre, and it has been in force since June 2023. No rate is quoted on this page on purpose: the figure is set in national legislation and is revised at the Budget, so a number printed here would go stale without anything on the page contradicting it.