Agenda item

20 minutes

At the Bath and North East Somerset Council meeting on 26 July, Cllr Ruth Malloy made a statement about single use vapes (attached), asking the Council to back the Local Government Association in calling for a ban on the sale and manufacture of single use vapes, for both health and environmental reasons.  As a result of the subsequent discussion, Cllr Paul May undertook to include this as an item for discussion at a Health and Wellbeing Board meeting.

Cathy McMahon (Public Health Development and Commissioning Manager) and Ruth Simpson (Health Improvement Officer) to lead a discussion.

Cathy McMahon and Ruth Sampson led a discussion on Single Use vaping following the motion at Bath and North East Somerset Council requesting support for the Local Government Association in calling for a ban on the sale and manufacture of single use vapes, for both health and environmental reasons.

There was a presentation as summarised below:

Why is this debate happening?

·  Growing concerns over youth vaping rates.

·  The environmental impacts caused by disposable vapes being difficult to recycle/limited recycling options for users / poor governance across retailers.

What do we need to consider? The pros and cons of a ban of disposable vapes – and how the decision will impact the following:

·  Information communicated to smokers – balance the message in line with Swap to Stop

·  Recycling behaviour – environmental impacts of other products, specifically cigarettes

·  Regulation / legislation across industry / impacts of illegal vape and capacity of Trading Standards

·  Associated costs

·  Impact on youth vaping rates / smoking rates

Four main themes:

1.  Disposable vapes – what they are and who is using them?

·  A vaping device that is fully charged and filled with e-liquid by the manufacturer.

·  Disposable vapes contain batteries and are made from plastic.

·  The majority of vape users are adult smokers.

·  Most 11-17 year olds have never vaped.

·  Vaping is much more common among children who also smoke or have smoked.

2.  Background information

·  Disposable vape use among current vapers up since 2021

·  At least 1.3 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week.

·  Few consumers are disposing of products responsibly.

·  Recycling behaviour is challenging to change.

·  There is also the environmental impact of other products (i.e., cigarettes) to consider.

3.  Options available – pros & cons

·  Option 1: Ban Disposable Vapes

·  Option 2: Regulation and Taxation

4.  What about cigarettes? - If we ban disposable vapes, should we also ban cigarettes?

The following questions/comments were raised by Board Members:

1.  It was confirmed that nicotine patches were still available to assist smokers give up cigarettes, but many smokers found vaping more effective as it mimicked the action of smoking.  There were benefits in people using vapes to give up smoking cigarettes, but their long-term use was not encouraged.

2.  Cllr Alison Born stated that the long-term health implications of vaping were unknown, and the environmental impact of disposable vapes were substantial and for those reasons she would be supportive of a ban.

3.  Val Scrase stated that it was a complex issue and there was no simple solution, but it was better to dissuade people from using disposable vapes alongside stricter regulation rather than a ban which would result in illegal use that couldn’t be regulated.  It was confirmed that there had not been a high level of success in countries where a ban was in place as it was difficult to enforce due to a lack of resources.

4.  Board Members agreed there was value in a targeted campaign to dissuade young people from using disposable vapes for environmental reasons.

In considering the different options, the Board was divided on whether supporting a ban on disposable vapes, or increased regulation and taxation was the preferred option.  It was noted that the international situation was changing with proposed new European legislation to ban disposable vapes and so the Board undertook to keep the issue under review.