Japan Cigarette Body To Regulate Collection Of Used Fire Prone Heated Tobacco Devices

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 10/22/2019

The Tobacco Institute of Japan is set to implement rules for when collecting used electrically heated tobacco devices that use lithium-ion batteries as multiple cases of fire believed to be caused by these tobacco cartridges after they are discarded as non-combustible trash have been reported.

Heat-not-burn tobacco products have been on sale in Japan for about five years, sold by TIOJ member companies Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT), Philip Morris Japan Ltd. and British American Tobacco Japan Ltd. They have attracted many smokers in Japan as they leave less smell on clothes and hair than regular cigarettes. Over 10 million units of such tobacco have since been sold overall in the country.

The compact, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in these tobacco cartridges have large power capacity and are widely used in small house appliances such as cell phones and laptops. Their downside is that they can start a fire when bent or broken. Multiple cases of accidents have been reported after these batteries caught fire at local waste treatment plants or recycling firms as they get compressed as trash. Since lithium-ion batteries are usually implanted inside the heated tobacco cartridges, it is hard for users to take them out at home. It is believed that in many cases the cartridges are taken out as regular non-combustible waste with the batteries still intact.

Under the Act on Promotion of Recycling of Small Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment, local governments are required to collect lithium-ion battery-powered products including smartphones and portable video game consoles, while the Act on the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources calls for electronics manufacturers to collect these products. However, heated tobacco cartridges are not subject to either of the laws. As clear rules regarding the collection of these products currently do not exist, many local bodies do not accept them as trash. Under such circumstances, users of heated cigarettes have been complaining to the tobacco companies that they have nowhere to discard their heated tobacco products.

JT launched a pilot program in May this year to collect its used heat-not-burn tobacco products at its shops in Tokyo, and the tobacco companies will set rules based on JT's system. The firms are set to implement the rules across the country next year at the earliest.  Enditem