16 November 2024
On November 25, governments, civil society groups, environmental experts, media, and other stakeholders will gather in Busan, Republic of Korea, for the final round of negotiations of the Plastic Pollution Treaty (INC-5) under the auspices of the UNEP. After four rounds of negotiations since 2022, the governments hope to conclude and agree on a treaty that will tackle the enormous plastic problem plaguing the world.
In 2024, global plastic use is expected to produce an estimated 400 million tons of plastic waste. As of 2022, more than 100 countries have a ban on single use plastics (SUP) with varying degrees of enforcement.
Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world. Every year 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded into the environment.Cigarette butts are on top of the list of plastic items in total debris collected (33%) in beach clean-ups as well as in municipal litter collection.
Cigarette filters are made of a form of plastic – acetate cellulose, and take more than 10 years to biodegrade. Cigarette filters give smokers the false impression of safety when in fact plastic fibers fall out and filters are linked to a more aggressive form of lung cancer. Cigarette filters themselves contain some of the toxic constituents of tobacco products.
The WHO and NGOs have called for a ban on cigarette filters, and to make the tobacco industry accountable and liable for the harm its products cause to the environment.
Cigarette butts and the plastics in tobacco packaging are estimated to cost governments billions in waste management costs and loss of marine ecosystem. A cost calculator developed by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) provides an estimate of what governments can possibly charge the tobacco industry to foot in cleaning bills (Table 1). While Indonesia, Myanmar, Philippines and Vietnam have a policy on SUP, none of them have addressed cigarette butts.
Table 1: What governments can charge tobacco companies to clean up marine pollution and waste management for ASEAN countries
| Marine Pollution & Waste Management | |||
| Butts | Local Currency | USD | |
| Brunei | 3 mil | BD 56,673 | 43,060 |
| Cambodia | 7 bil | KHR 413 bil | 100,891,150 |
| Indonesia | 316 bil | IDR 49 tril | 3,117,620,100 |
| Lao PRD | 5 bil | LAK 593 bil | 26,773,179 |
| Malaysia | 10 bil | MYR 541 mil | 122,121,931 |
| Myanmar | 8 bil | MMK 158 bil | 48,647,836 |
| Philippines | 83 bil | PHP 52 bil | 911,672,840 |
| Singapore | 2 bil | SGD 50 mil | 37,958,250 |
| Thailand | 47 bil | THB 18 bil | 514,704,960 |
| Vietnam | 338 bil | VND 98 tril | 3,913,120,400 |
| 2,465,887,256 | |||
The European Union Directive has classified cigarette filters containing plastic (cellulose acetate) as a SUP in 2021
In January 2023, Ireland passed new legislation where tobacco companies will have to pay for part of the clean-up costs resulting from cigarette-related waste. Cigarette butts account for half of the nation’s street refuse and are “the biggest litter scourge”, according to the National Litter Pollution Monitoring System.
In January 2023, Spain announced that tobacco companies will pay for cleaning up the millions of cigarette butts discarded every year under new environmental regulations. The law conforms to a European Union directive limiting single-use plastics which aims to clean up the mess. 1 study estimates cost at between €12 – €21 per citizen per annum, a total of up to €1bn (£880m).
In February this year, COP10 adopted a decision under Article 18 of the WHO FCTC and recognized that “plastic cigarette filters are unnecessary, avoidable and problematic” and recommended an immediate ban on cigarette filters and vaporizers in its submission to the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution. The COP will also be looking further into the potential use of liability to hold the tobacco industry accountable for environmental damage caused by its products.
How will the plastics treaty hold the tobacco industry liable for the harm its products cause the environment?
Unlike the WHO FCTC Article 5.3 which indicates that tobacco control policy must be protected from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry, the plastics pollution treaty too must have principles to exclude the tobacco industry and other polluting industries which have a conflict of interest in the negotiations. Surely opening the door to industries which seek only to protect their business will undermine and water-down the clauses of the treaty?
Several provisions in the treaty documents being negotiated (Compilation Text and Chair’s Non-Paper) could inadvertently open the door to tobacco industry influence, and undermine WHO FCTC objectives, particularly through provisions related to private sector engagement in policy development, financial / technical assistance, and extended producer responsibility schemes.
The Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA) recommends:
- Cigarette filters must remain a priority item for elimination under the treaty. Their inclusion in a list or an annex (of those subject for elimination) is a necessary step toward mitigating both the environmental and health impacts of tobacco-related waste.
- To preserve the integrity of both the plastic pollution treaty and public health objectives, it is essential that the tobacco industry is explicitly excluded from all policy development processes under this treaty.
GGTC is the convenor of STPA. For more information: Home – Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance