03-22-2023, 09:22 PM
Muslims around the world will begin fasting from dawn until sunset in observance of the holy month of Ramadan this week.
It is expected to begin on either Wednesday or Thursday depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.
This is because the Islamic year follows the Hijri calender, which is a lunar cycle.
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the belief in one God (shahada), prayer (salah), performing the pilgrimage (hajj) and giving alms (zakat).
Though many tend to associate Ramadan mostly with avoiding food and water, there are several lifestyle habits which Muslims must abstain from during fasting hours in order to correctly observe the month.
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour.
https://www.ft.com/content/6d5ed980-8b91-4372-9e7e-14eda5419325
More than 90 tonnes of lithium were used in the production of the $5bn worth of single-use vapes sold globally last year, according to Financial Times estimates based on data from the research group Euromonitor, the consultancy ECigIntelligence and the electricals recycling non-profit Material Focus. That equates to enough lithium to supply more than 11,000 electric vehicle batteries. They also contained roughly 1,160 tonnes of copper, enough for 1.6mn home electric vehicle chargers.
“If you wanted to invent a product to expose what’s rotten with the vaping industry, disposable vapes would be it,” says Shane MacGuill, head of nicotine research at Euromonitor.
The products are a major money-spinner, especially for companies based in Shenzhen, the heartland of China’s $28bn vapour industry. They have made entrepreneur Zhang Shengwei, 49, a fortune off the back of his majority ownership of Shenzhen iMiracle Technology and Heaven Gifts International, the companies behind both Elf Bar and Lost Mary.
Yet manufacturers globally have made little effort to enable the recycling of their products and prevent a precious resource from ending up in landfills. In the UK, the vast majority of smaller vape manufacturers and distributors are not registered to comply with legal obligations to fund recycling, according to new analysis by Material Focus shared with the FT.
Green Fun Alliance, a UK-based distributor owned by the company behind Elf Bar and Lost Mary, only registered late last year despite selling the products in the UK for about two years. Its £600mn of sales accounted for more than 70 per cent of the UK disposable vape market in 2022. An Elf Bar representative says the brand is “dedicated to environmental protection”.
It is expected to begin on either Wednesday or Thursday depending on the sighting of the crescent moon.
This is because the Islamic year follows the Hijri calender, which is a lunar cycle.
Fasting is one of the five pillars of Islam, along with the belief in one God (shahada), prayer (salah), performing the pilgrimage (hajj) and giving alms (zakat).
Though many tend to associate Ramadan mostly with avoiding food and water, there are several lifestyle habits which Muslims must abstain from during fasting hours in order to correctly observe the month.
Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found at https://www.ft.com/tour.
https://www.ft.com/content/6d5ed980-8b91-4372-9e7e-14eda5419325
More than 90 tonnes of lithium were used in the production of the $5bn worth of single-use vapes sold globally last year, according to Financial Times estimates based on data from the research group Euromonitor, the consultancy ECigIntelligence and the electricals recycling non-profit Material Focus. That equates to enough lithium to supply more than 11,000 electric vehicle batteries. They also contained roughly 1,160 tonnes of copper, enough for 1.6mn home electric vehicle chargers.
“If you wanted to invent a product to expose what’s rotten with the vaping industry, disposable vapes would be it,” says Shane MacGuill, head of nicotine research at Euromonitor.
The products are a major money-spinner, especially for companies based in Shenzhen, the heartland of China’s $28bn vapour industry. They have made entrepreneur Zhang Shengwei, 49, a fortune off the back of his majority ownership of Shenzhen iMiracle Technology and Heaven Gifts International, the companies behind both Elf Bar and Lost Mary.
Yet manufacturers globally have made little effort to enable the recycling of their products and prevent a precious resource from ending up in landfills. In the UK, the vast majority of smaller vape manufacturers and distributors are not registered to comply with legal obligations to fund recycling, according to new analysis by Material Focus shared with the FT.
Green Fun Alliance, a UK-based distributor owned by the company behind Elf Bar and Lost Mary, only registered late last year despite selling the products in the UK for about two years. Its £600mn of sales accounted for more than 70 per cent of the UK disposable vape market in 2022. An Elf Bar representative says the brand is “dedicated to environmental protection”.