Tag: e-cigarettes

Bangladesh Vape Group Calls for Stakeholder Input

Credit: Ser
The Bangladesh Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Traders Association (BENDSTA) called on authorities to consult with all stakeholders before making any policy decisions on vaping at a press conference held in the capital city of Dhaka on Tuesday.
The organization also called for excluding vaping and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) products from the proposed amendment of the Smoking and Tobacco Products Control Act 2005 (amended in 2013), according to a press release.
BENDSTA fears that if a decision to ban vapes is taken after ignoring credible scientific evidence, it will jeopardize the Prime Minister’s vision of making the country tobacco-free by 2040.
Many former smokers who successfully quit smoking cigarettes using vaping devices might resort back to smoking traditional cigarettes again if vaping gets banned in the country.
Not only will this increase the number of smokers in the country, but the government will also lose the opportunity to balance its health and revenue agenda from an emerging sector, BENDSTA speakers said.
BENDSTA President Masud Uz Zaman criticized the country’s health authorities for not including the association as relevant stakeholders in the process of developing such a crucial policy framework.
“If any amendment is proposed regarding vaping, we are definitely an important stakeholder. It is unreasonable to not take our opinion and completely exclude us from the law-making process. Despite sending letters to the Ministry of Health repeatedly, they have refrained to sit with us to discuss the issue,” Zaman said.
Zaman stressed that these tobacco harm reduction products should be made legal and regulated sensibly to achieve the Prime Minister’s vision of a tobacco-free nation.
The proposed amendments called for a total ban on vaping products.
January 18, 2023
UK to Consider New Regulations for Vape Disposal

Disposing of used vaping devices, especially disposable devices, has become a major issue. So much so that the UK is set to consider changes to ensure the vaping sector “plays its part” in financing the collection and treatment of vaping products as part of the upcoming review of the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations.
Fourteen million single-use vapes are bought each month and 1.3 million are thrown away every week, according to research from Material Focus, the not-for-profit organization funded by the WEEE compliance fee.
Last week, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published its response to its consultation on commonly littered single-use plastic items, which ran from November 2021 to February 2022, according to Let’s Recycle. Within its response, Defra noted it had not explored the issues around waste generated from disposable vapes.
Defra says it is reviewing the current producer responsibility systems for WEEE and batteries and plans to publish the much-delayed consultations on both areas “this year”, and in doing so will look at vaping products.
The UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA), the trade body representing the UK’s vaping industry’s interests, says it is in discussions along with its member with several waste companies to create a recycling solution that is “fit for purpose for the vaping sector.”
January 18, 2023
PMI Inaugurates HEETS Factory in Indonesia

Photo: Arkadiusz Fajer
Philip Morris International’s Indonesian subsidiary, Sampoerna, inaugurated a factory for the production of IQOS HEETS consumables in Karawang, West Java, on Jan. 12, reports The Jakarta Post.
The facility, which started operations in the fourth quarter of 2022, represents an investment of more than $186 million.
The new HEETS factory, which will serve customers in Indonesia and the Asia Pacific region, fits with the government’s policy to encourage investment and increase the export of finished products. Speaking at the inauguration, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said the investment will encourage innovation and create value in other sectors, such as retail, agriculture and R&D.
According to PMI, the Indonesian plant is the company’s seventh factory for innovative smoke-free products worldwide and its first in Southeast Asia.
During the inauguration, Sampoerna President Director Vassilis Gkatzelis conveyed his appreciation to the Indonesian government for the conducive investment climate, as well as the government’s commitment to maintaining national economic stability.
“As a company that has been operating for almost 110 years, we aim to continue to contribute to the national economy through continuous investment as well as the economic impact on the national tobacco industry supply chain and ecosystem,” he said.
Vassilis also noted PMI’s considerable investment in smoking alternatives. The company, he said, has invested more than $9 billion to develop, scientifically substantiate and commercialize innovative smoke-free tobacco products.
IQOS debuted in Indonesia through limited market testing since 2019 and is available in Jakarta, Surabaya, Denpasar and Bandung, among other cities.
January 18, 2023
Ukraine Repurposing Vape Batteries as Power Banks

Credit: Lucitanija
A group of cyber specialists is repurposing batteries from used e-cigarettes into power banks for frontline soldiers in places like forests and trenches with no access to electricity.
Working in a generator-powered office just outside Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv, the volunteers work day and night to make the products that are in scarce supply, according to Channel News Asia.
“We collected electronic cigarettes (and) inside turned out to be a completely normal rechargeable lithium battery, which has its own cycle and even has a capacity higher than it says on the case,” said IT specialist Ivan Volynets, who founded Power Kit, the company producing the power banks.
“We were very surprised and decided that if we could keep collecting them, we could then make power banks and provide soldiers with these devices.”
Volunteers have so far collected more than five tons of used e-cigarettes for repurposing.
They are assisted by Ukrainian delivery service Nova Poshta, which ships discarded vaping devices to Power Kit for free.
IT specialist Dmytro said each power bank stores enough energy to fully charge a typical phone up to five times. “It also works for other equipment such as drones and radios,” he added.
January 16, 2023
Mexico Bans Public Smoking, Vape Rules to Tighten

Credit: Sezerozger
After banning the sale of all vaping products, Mexico has implemented one of the world’s strictest anti-tobacco laws by enacting a complete ban on smoking in public places.
The move also includes a total ban on the advertising, promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products, which means that cigarettes cannot be displayed inside shops. The step was first approved in 2021.
E-cigarettes and heated tobacco products are also facing tighter new restrictions, particularly indoors, as per BBC. Last year, Mexico banned the import, sale and distribution of vaping and heated-tobacco products.
The existing 2008 law in Mexico is responsible for smoke-free spaces in bars, restaurants and workplaces. The same law extended to a total ban in all public spaces including parks, beaches, hotels, offices and restaurants.
Several other Latin American countries have also passed legislation to create smoke-free public spaces. Last year for example, Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo also signed legislation banning the sale of vapor products in his country.
However, Mexico’s legislation is considered to be the most robust and wide-ranging in the Americas.
However, some smokers are dismayed at the draconian nature of the new law. In essence, it means that many will only be allowed to smoke in their homes or other private residences.
Others have raised questions about the practicalities of enforcing the law.
With police corruption so rampant in Mexico, many fear that rather than issuing real fines or punishments for smoking in public, some officers will use it as a pretext for taking bribes.
January 16, 2023
UKVIA Calls for Innovation to Facilitate Recycling

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The U.K. Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) is calling upon its members and the wider industry to innovate products that make them easier to recycle for the waste management sector.
The move comes as pressure mounts to ban single-use disposable devices.
On Jan. 3. upmarket supermarket chain Waitrose announced a complete withdrawal from the single use vapes market. “Selling single use vapes is not something we could justify given the impact on both the environment and the health of young people,” said Commercial Director Charlotte Di Cello.
While environmental campaigners applauded the move, vaping advocates said Waitrose could do more to protect both public health and the planet by instead refusing to sell combustible cigarettes, which are the world’s most littered item.
Just five days later, Scottish PhD student Laura Young made national headlines in the U.K. when a video she posted on Twitter of her collecting 55 discarded disposable vapes while out walking her dog went viral.
Young, who goes by the Twitter handle @LessWasteLaura, gained public support when she posted two more follow-up posts and called for single-use vapes to be banned.
Following the publicity surrounding her anti-disposable campaign, the Scottish Government said it was “considering the emerging issues around single-use disposable vapes’ and urged consumers to dispose of them responsibly.”

We are working to find a waste management solution that minimizes the impact of vapes on the environment so they are seen for what they do best—helping adult smokers kick their habits.
John Dunne, director-general, UKVIA
According to the UKVIA, as campaigns like this gain traction, it may be only a matter of time before regulators decide to look closer at the disposable sector of the vape market.
UKVIA Director General John Dunne said that while the vaping industry recognizes its responsibilities to the environment, the recycling of vapes requires collaboration between adult vapers, retailers, manufacturers, the regulators and companies in the waste management sector, which are involved in the current producer compliance schemes under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations.
“Up to now there has been genuine confusion amongst the vaping sector about their responsibilities under the WEEE directive,” said Dunne in a statement. “Earlier this year the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment alluded to uncertainty around whether regulations covered the type of batteries found in vapes and also questioned the recycling infrastructure in place to support the sector to be more sustainable.
“This is why we are working hard as an industry to find a waste management solution that minimizes the impact of vapes on the environment, particularly when it comes to single use disposables, so they are seen for what they do best—helping adult smokers kick their habits and save the lives of millions as well as millions of pounds for the health service.”
January 16, 2023
RJR Vapor Denied New Trial in $95 Million Altria Verdict

Credit: Kristina Blokhin
RJ Reynolds Vapor Co. was denied a new trial on its September loss that awarded $95 million to Altria Group for its Vuse Alto e-cigarette’s infringement of three vape pod patents.
“That the jury did not agree with” Reynolds “does not mean the trial was unfair,” Judge N. Carlton Tilley Jr. wrote in an opinion issued Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina, according to Bloomberg Law.
Tilley denied BAT subsidiary Reynolds’ motion for a new trial or to reduce the damages jurors awarded to Altria Client Services in their Sept. 7 verdict.
In its retrial request, Reynolds Vaper stated that “Altria’s improper injection of inflammatory evidence regarding patent infringement allegations against Reynolds in other cases denied Reynolds a fair trial. Erroneous evidentiary rulings also prejudiced Reynolds’ ability to present its defense. Those errors independently, and under the cumulative error doctrine, affected the verdict such that a complete new trial is required.”
Altria said in a statement that “this was a fair trial. There is no basis for another trial, and we are pleased that the jury correctly found that Reynolds Vapor has infringed a number of our patents.”
January 14, 2023
Taiwan Bans Vaping, Heat-not-Burn to be Regulated

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Lawmakers in Taiwan passed a ban on vaping products for its third legislative reading Thursday. The measure was necessary to address the increasing popularity of vaping products with the country’s youths, according to officials.
The sale, manufacture, and supply of e-cigarettes will be outlawed, however, heated tobacco products (HTPs) will only be subjected to tighter regulation, according to an amendment to the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act, according to media reports.
Manufacturers or importers of HTPs will have to submit a health risk evaluation report for review before they can receive a permit. The advertising of heating tobacco products will be banned, wrote CNA.
Other changes involve raising the legal smoking age from 18 to 20, increasing the proportion of tobacco package warning messages from 35 percent to 50 percent, and designating childcare centers as well as schools as no-smoking/no-vaping areas.
The move is hailed as a partial victory for anti-tobacco groups after years of calls for stricter control of cigarettes and novel tobacco products. The last time the Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act was amended in Taiwan was in 2009.
Among the contentious parts of the amendment is how flavored tobacco products are to be regulated. Critics say the change is not bold enough as it only prohibits the use of banned additives, but this can present a loophole as the terminology is vague, wrote UDN.
January 13, 2023
New York Governor Calls for Statewide Flavor Ban

Credit: New York Governor Kathy Hochul
Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her State of the State address and wasted no time in setting her sights on heat-not-burn and other flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes. The state already prohibits the sale of flavored vaping products.
New York’s new full-term governor outlined some tobacco policy changes she would like enacted, including both a ban on the sale of all flavored tobacco products and a $1 per pack increase in combustible cigarette taxes from $4.35 to $5.35.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, one of the most prominent anti-tobacco groups in the world, which is supported by former New York City Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, praised Hochul’s plans. Any changes to New York tobacco laws would first need to be passed by the state’s legislature.
“These actions are projected to reduce the number of young people smoking cigarettes by 9 percent, prevent 22,000 youths from becoming adult smokers and prevent premature deaths caused by smoking,” Hochul’s office wrote in the State of the State booklet.
California and Massachusetts are the only states with bans on the sale of flavored tobacco products,
January 12, 2023
Juul’s Market Share Still Falling, Vuse Continues Growth

Credit: Golib Tolibov
The top-selling Vuse electronic cigarette of R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. continued to expand the market-share gap with Juul in both monthly and yearly comparisons.
Vuse’s market share rose from 40.7 percent in the previous report to 41.1 percent, compared with Juul declining from 27 percent to 26.7 percent. For 2022 overall, Vuse’s market share was 35.7 percent, compared with 30.1 percent for Juul.
No. 3 NJoy slipped from 2.8 percent to 2.7 percent, while Fontem Ventures’ blu eCigs was unchanged at 1.4 percent.
Juul’s four-week dollar sales in the latest report have dropped from a 50.2 percent increase in the Aug. 10, 2019, report to a 23.7 percent decline in the latest report, according to media reports.
By comparison, Reynolds’ Vuse was up 32.7 percent in the latest report, while NJoy was up 0.1 percent, blu eCigs down 33.4 percent and Japan Tobacco’s Logic down 15.1 percent.
As recently as May 2019, Juul held a 74.6 percent U.S. e-cig market share.
On Sept. 30, Altria Group Inc. cleared the way to re-enter the e-cigarette marketplace after choosing to permanently end its non-compete agreement with Juul Labs.
January 12, 2023