“Gyan-Pragya” demands an immediate ban on cigarette filters and vaporizers.
Gyan Pragya, a research and advocacy group in the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance, is urging a ban on plastic in cigarette filters and vaping products to address plastic pollution.
The organization sent a letter to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bangladesh, recently.
This information was given in a press release sent by the research organization at the same time.
Gyan Pragya announced that the World Health Organization has urged an immediate ban on cigarette filters and vaporizers. These products are harmful, unnecessary single-use plastics that damage the environment and marine life.
Australia and the United Kingdom have already banned disposable vaping products. Belgium and the Netherlands are moving to ban cigarette filters, while Benin, Chad, and Gambia have implemented taxes on the tobacco industry.
ABM Zubair, Pragya’s Executive Director, reported that Bangladesh discards around 71 billion cigarette filters annually, contributing to environmental pollution.
Cigarette filters take about a decade to decompose in nature and release more than 7,000 chemicals while being decomposed. The government should ban cigarette filters and vaporizers to combat plastic pollution.”
Gyan-Pragya stated that Bangladesh must implement the global tobacco control agreement as a member of the WHO FCTC.
Gyan-Pragya has urged two ministries to collaborate on banning cigarette filters and vaporizers as harmful products, classify filters as harmful plastic waste, and stop tobacco companies from pursuing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) at the INC-4 meeting from April 23-29, which is aimed at finalizing a draft to combat plastic pollution.
