New environmental regulations in Spain have stipulated that tobacco companies would now be charged with cleaning up cigarette butts off the streets and beaches.
The new regulations were enforced on Friday after, according to a BBC report, millions of butts are thrown away each year – releasing toxic plastic waste which can take decades to break down.
This position by Spain shows that the country is taking a tough stance against smoking and the adverse impact cigarette waste is having on the environment.
A report by the Catalan Rezero Foundation called cigarette waste the “most abundant waste” on the beaches of the western Mediterranean, pointing out that existing measures to tackle it – such as awareness campaigns and portable beach ashtrays – had been insufficient.
The new rules make manufacturers responsible for collecting discarded butts as well as transporting them for waste treatment, the BBC reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) had reported that more than 40 million young people aged 13-15 have already started to use tobacco. This, by any measure, is quite alarming, and one can only imagine the kind of impact this would have on our young people if urgent action is not taken to discourage such actions.
The WHO had, for some time now, embarked on a global campaign to highlight the “strategic, aggressive and well-resourced tactics” employed by the tobacco industry to target youths, and to debunk the myths the tobacco industry creates.
The campaign seeks to provide young people with the knowledge required to easily detect industry manipulation – from product design to marketing campaigns – and equip them with the tools to rebuff such tactics, thereby empowering young people to stand up against them. The WHO described this effort as a counter-marketing campaign, as it would reinforce work in assisting countries to implement effective policy interventions to reduce the demand for tobacco.
Here, in Guyana, Chronic Diseases Coordinator Dr Kavita Singh had, in the past, lamented the fact that the tobacco industry is capitalising on new trends in targeting young persons. She noted that it was during this point in time that ‘big tobacco’ was using strategic marketing techniques to try to get young people to experiment with the new and emerging novel products, like the e-cigarettes and the heated tobacco products.
While there is a myth that these products are safe, they are equally as harmful as the smoke of an actual cigarette. According to WHO, smoking e-cigarettes and hookah pipes – marketed as “safer” alternatives to conventional cigarettes – is harmful, addictive, and increases the risk of developing heart and lung diseases.
Of note is that these products have the same tobacco, which has cancer-causing agents among other deadly emissions. The WHO notes that most of the countless flavours on offer – such as bubble-gum and candy – are there to attract youngsters, who at least double their chances of smoking cigarettes later in life.
It should be stated that tobacco is responsible for over seven million deaths per year worldwide. This includes approximately 900,000 persons who die from diseases related to exposure to tobacco smoke. Over 40 per cent of all tobacco-related deaths are from lung diseases, like cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, and tuberculosis.
Guyana’s tobacco control law, enacted in 2017, follows several of the Articles of the WHO Convention, and mandates the adoption and implementation of a series of tobacco control policies, which make it one of the most complete tobacco control laws. These include: 100 per cent smoke-free environments in all indoor public spaces, indoor work spaces, public transportation, and specified outdoor spaces, to protect people from exposure to tobacco smoke; a ban on all forms of advertising and promotion and sponsorship of tobacco products; health warnings featured on 60 per cent of tobacco product packaging, including images. It also includes a ban on the sale of tobacco products to and by minors, prohibition on vending machines’ sales, and a ban on the manufacture and sale of toys and candies, and any other goods in the form of tobacco products.
There is no strict enforcement of the measures enacted in the local 2017 control law, and more so no provision like that of Spain to have companies pay for the damage they are causing to the environment.
Having the necessary legislation in place is a good starting point, but the challenges relate to monitoring and compliance. Stricter enforcement of the legislation has still not yet been addressed.
