Call to Endorse a Proposed Ban on Single Use Disposable Vapes
North Lanarkshire Council · 3 May 2023
Back to Environment and Climate Change Committee — 3 May 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Environment and Climate Change Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref: AM/PB Date 03/05/23 Call to Endorse a Proposed Ban on Single Use Disposable Vapes From Andrew McPherson, Chief Officer (Community Operations) E-mail mcphersona@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07939 280467 Executive Summary The Scottish Government has commissioned a review of the environmental impacts and management of single use vapes. This report seeks to gain Committee approval for North Lanarkshire Council, as an organisation committed to public protection, to support a proposed ban on the sale of these disposable vapes in the interests of safeguarding the environment. Recommendations It is recommended that Committee: • Supports and endorses the proposed ban on the sale of single use vapes. • Requests that the Chief Officer (Community Operations) writes to the Scottish Government calling for the immediate introduction of a complete prohibition on the supply of single use disposable vapes. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve the health and wellbeing of our communities Ambition statement (17) Ensure we keep our environment clean, safe, and attractive
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1. Background 1.1 There are growing concerns around the environmental consequences of single use vapes being discarded irresponsibly, leading to a rise in the impact of littering. The products are plastic waste and contain lithium batteries which pose risks in terms of corrosive and flammable substances. 1.2 In response to this the Scottish Government has commissioned an urgent review around the environmental impact and management of single use vapes. As part of this review, they are to consider the evidence and expert advice and come forward with policy options, which could include a potential ban on single use vapes. 2. Report 2.1 Disposable vapes are single-use, non-rechargeable and non-refillable items designed and placed on the market to be used and discarded. Compared to re-useable vapes, which are rechargeable and refillable, disposable vapes come ready to go and only last for around 600 puffs, at which point they become obsolete and require complete replacement. 2.2 Recycling disposable vapes is not simple as their toxicity makes disassembling the product complex and costly to waste managers. Each vape consists of glass, plastic and metal, and a heating coil and lithium-ion battery which require the product to be handled in compliance with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations. All retailers selling e-cigarettes must provide a free in-store take-back service or set up an alternative free take-back service for environmentally sound disposal. Under these regulations similar responsibilities exist for producers and distributors. However, many disposable vapes are binned in general waste or littered, increasing the environmental impacts and resulting in the loss of precious finite materials such as lithium. There is also a significant fire risk associated with incorrect disposal such as during waste transportation in bin lorries, when damaged for example by grass cutters, or in waste disposal facilities themselves. The Scottish Fire Service suggest the recent fire which devastated the recycling plant at Altens, Aberdeen might have begun in this way. 2.3 It is estimated that the number of disposable vapes purchased in the UK is 168 million per year, and the expanding size of this market is clearly being driven by the promotion of these cheap, bright coloured and sweet flavoured products to younger people. Recent research indicates that around two vapes are disposed of every second (around 1.3 million per week). This contains the equivalent of 1,200 electric car batteries, or 10 tonnes of lithium – which is being sent to landfill or waste incinerators each year. 2.4 Some vapes contain enough toxic chemicals to be classified as hazardous waste and when these are littered or improperly disposed of can leach heavy metals (including mercury, lead and bromines), battery acid, and nicotine into the environment impacting upon Scotland’s wildlife and indeed wider human health. 2.5 The littering of these items is not only an environmental hazard but contributes to the ongoing decline in local environmental quality across communities and neighbourhoods throughout Scotland as detailed in Keep Scotland Beautiful’s recent report that highlighted significant public concern with litter and littering behaviour. 2.6 To ensure that disposable vapes do not cause any such harm to the environment, the following guidance should be followed:
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• E-cigarettes or vapes should not be thrown away in general waste in order to avoid the risk of fire. • E-cigarettes or vapes should be disposed of at small waste electrical and electronic equipment receptacles available at the Council’s household waste recycling centres, or at retailers’ take-back points. • If the batteries inside vapes are easily removable, these should be removed and disposed of in battery recycling receptacles. 2.7 Further to the obvious environmental risks that disposable vapes represent, there is also a growing health concern. The uptake of vaping amongst young people is particularly concerning, with multiple health professionals warning that instead of being used as a cessation tool to encourage existing smokers to give up the habit, disposable vapes have the potential to create a whole new generation hooked on nicotine. ASH research shows that last year e-cigarette use doubled among 11-17-year-olds, likely caused by the exponential growth of disposable e-cigarettes. Use prevalence of disposable e-cigarettes increased 7-fold between 2020 and 2021, rising from 7% to 52%, whilst the use of reusable and refillable e-cigarettes decreased. 2.8 Trading Standards have concerns about the deliberate marketing and promotion of single use vapes to a new, young generation of non-smokers, with bright colours, novelty flavours and positioning of products next to sweets and confectionery. Current displays of vapes are reminiscent of tobacco before the tobacco display ban and may, if left uncontrolled, lead to a whole new generation addicted to nicotine. 2.9 The sale of vapes is covered by age restricted legislation and the Council’s Trading Standards service recently carried out test purchasing operations and were disappointed in the number of shops found to have sold tobacco or vapes to young people under the age of 18 years. Thirty-six shops were visited, seven were found to have sold cigarettes and another five shops sold vapes giving a failure rate of 33%. Fixed penalty notices have been issued for these offences. In previous test purchase exercises, failure rates have ranged from 10% to 20%. 2.10 In summary therefore, although it is recognised that vaping products have a role to play in overall smoking cessation, the use of disposable versions of this product have, on balance, an overall negative impact. For this reason, it is recommended that the Council supports the position of ASH Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful and other local authorities in supporting a ban on the sale of disposable vapes in Scotland. If this position is agreed by Committee then it would be proposed that the Chief Officer (Community Operations) would write to the Scottish Government outlining this position and the rationale behind it. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Removal of disposable vapes from sale in Scotland will reduce the environmental and public health concerns associated with such products. Andrew McPherson Chief Officer (Community Operations)
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts have been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts have been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts have been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact?
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Lobbying to expedite a ban on the supply of single use vapes in Scotland will have positive benefits in terms of the reduction of littering, waste and the unnecessary use of precious commodities such as lithium. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services.