BELGIUM will ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes from January 1 on health and environmental grounds in a groundbreaking move among European Union nations.

Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke said inexpensive e-cigarettes had turned into a health threat through being an easy way for teenagers to be drawn into smoking and become addicted to nicotine.

“Disposable e-cigarettes are a new product simply designed to attract new consumers,” he said in an interview.

“E-cigarettes often contain nicotine. Nicotine is bad for your health. These are facts,” Mr Vandenbroucke added.

Because they are disposable, the plastic, battery and circuits are a burden on the environment. On top of that, “they create hazardous waste chemicals still present in what people throw away,” he said.

The health minister said he was also targeting disposable e-cigarettes because reusable ones could be a tool to help people quit smoking if they cannot find another way.

Australia outlawed the sale of vapes outside pharmacies earlier this year, imposing some of the world’s toughest restrictions on e-cigarettes. Now Belgium is leading the EU drive.

“We are the first country in Europe to do so,” Mr Vandenbroucke said.

“We are really calling on the European Commission to come forward now with new initiatives to update, to modernise, the tobacco legislation,” he said.