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** 29 August 2024
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** UK
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** Government considering banning smoking in pub gardens (#1)
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** BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast interview with Deborah Arnott (#2)
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** Vapes redesigned to avoid UK crackdown could lead to more waste, say critics (#3)
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** UK
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** Government considering banning smoking in pub gardens

Secret government proposals to outlaw cigarettes in a raft of outdoor locations have been exclusively revealed by The Sun.

Lighting up will be stubbed out at outdoor restaurants, open-air spaces at clubs, and outside football stadiums.

It will also apply outside universities, hospitals, sports grounds, kids’ play areas and small parks.

And shisha bars are expected to fall foul of the new rules.

But the restrictions will not cover private homes, nor large open spaces such as parks or streets.

Sir Keir Starmer is pushing ahead with the plan in a bid to phase out tobacco and spare non-smokers from passive smoking.

Backers of an outdoor smoking ban said it would both help save lives and billions for the NHS.

Dr Layla McCay, of the NHS Confederation, told the BBC: “It's the leading cause of preventable illness in the UK.

“So, we are heartened to see that progress is being made and that the intention is moving forward to really address one of Britain's main drivers of health inequalities.”

Ministers will argue the economic benefits far outweigh the costs.

They will claim that smoking costs the Treasury £21.8billion in health spending, dwarfing the amount it raises in tax.

Downing Street will also point out that when then-PM Tony Blair’s Labour government introduced the public smoking ban in 2007, it actually did not hurt businesses but helped save lives.

A public consultation will be launched over the outdoor smoking ban.

Like the original Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the outdoor smoking ban will apply to all four countries in the UK.

The Prime Minister is hopeful the public will back the measures, with some polling showing large support for smoke-free pub gardens.

The NHS warns passive smoking is particularly damaging to children who can develop asthma, chest infections and meningitis.

A target exists to make England “smoke-free” by 2030, meaning only five per cent of the population would smoke by then.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We do not comment on leaks.

"Smoking claims 80,000 lives a year, puts huge pressure on our NHS and costs taxpayers billions.

“We are determined to protect children and non-smokers from second-hand smoking. We’re considering a range of measures to finally make Britain smoke-free.”

Source: The Sun, 29 August 2024

Editorial note: This story is based on a leaked document and has yet to be confirmed by Government officials. As the article highlights, there will be a public consultation prior to the introduction of any ban.

Comment from Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of Action on Smoking and Health: “The priority is to get the Bill back in parliament and put on the statute book, to end smoking for the next generation and curb youth vaping. ASH would support the inclusion of powers to extend smokefree laws outdoors, subject to consultation. The Government is catching up with what the public expects, and that’s not to have to breathe in tobacco smoke in places like children’s play areas and seating areas outside pubs, restaurants and cafes. However, it’s also important to ensure that there are still outdoor areas where people who smoke can smoke in the open air, rather than inside their homes.

“Twenty years ago those who opposed banning smoking inside pubs argued it would damage business, and be unenforceable. In fact more people went to pubs after the ban came in, and compliance was 97% from day one. That was a far more radical change, smoking rates have gone down considerably since then, and the public supports extending legislation to areas outside hospitality venues, so it’s hard to see how it can damage the hospitality trade. More to the point, smoking is the leading cause of premature death and is responsible for half the difference in healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest in society, and the economic cost to the economy in England alone is at least £21.8 Bn. The more we can do to end smoking altogether, the better it will be for everyone’s health and wellbeing.”

See also: ASH - Latest figures show cost of smoking in England up 25% to at least £21.8 billion ([link removed])
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** BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast interview with Deborah Arnott

This morning on BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast, hosts Rachel Burden and Rick Edwards interview Deborah Arnott, Chief Executive of ASH, about the leaked plans to ban smoking in a range of outdoor places.

You can listen to the full interview from 2:09:20.

Source: BBC sounds, 29 August 2024
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Listen Here ([link removed])


** Vapes redesigned to avoid UK crackdown could lead to more waste, say critics

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.

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.

Source: The Guardian, 28 August 2024

See also: Material Focus - Over 90% of vape producers and retailers in the UK are still failing to meet environmental regulations ([link removed])
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ASH Daily News is a digest of published news on smoking-related topics. ASH is not responsible for the content of external websites. ASH does not necessarily endorse the material contained in this bulletin.

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