Waste management: a new warning for the UK tobacco industry

In the United Kingdom, Environment Minister Rebecca Pow has warned the tobacco industry that it must quickly implement a real waste management plan, or risk being subject to extended producer responsibility (EPR) rules.

A repeated warning

In the summer of 2020, the Minister had already warned [1]: “If we cannot move this discussion forward… we will need to consider what steps the government can take in the future to ensure that the tobacco industry takes increasing responsibility for the waste its products create.” And at the recent meeting with representatives of the tobacco industry, Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), the warning was sounded. Rebacca Pow specifically said that working with an independent body to develop a voluntary producer responsibility scheme “seems to provide a potential way for the industry to reduce tobacco-related waste in this country.”

The impact of cigarette butts recalled

Otherwise, an EPR scheme – which is much more expensive than a voluntary scheme – could be considered “to ensure that the tobacco industry takes increasing responsibility for the waste created by its products”. She stressed that cigarette butts, as well as being unsightly, pollute the environment due to the plastics they contain and the toxic chemicals they release. They are also difficult and expensive for local authorities to clean up.

Insufficient investment

Rebecca Pow recalled that in 2015 the Tobacco Manufacturers Association (TMA) publicly committed to providing free ashtrays at points of sale and funding ashtray bins, but ignored a request from Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) for an update in 2018: “Surveys suggest that tobacco-related litter has actually increased by more than 5% since these commitments were made.” KBT is said to have informed Defra that the tobacco industry was actually spending just £70,000 a year on litter prevention, compared to estimated annual profits of over £1 billion.

Divergent opinions

The UK has thus reached a situation that the Minister has made clear cannot continue. KBT Deputy Chief Executive Richard McIlwain has said that the REP should include tobacco-related waste, and proposed that an independent task force should manage the funding provided by the tobacco industry. At TMA, Director Rupert Lewis has indicated that his members have "no objection to a voluntary scheme but would like more detail". He notably disputes some of KBT's data on the volume of tobacco-related waste. Finally, for the Director of ASH, a voluntary scheme is inappropriate. According to her, only legal constraints will be effective, specifying for example that local authorities may have difficulty accessing funds from a voluntary scheme.

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] SMULIAN Mark, Pow threatens tobacco firms over litter, www.mrw.co.uk (18 August 2020 - accessed 5 October 2020). [2] SMULIAN Mark, Tobacco firms face mandatory rules on litter, says Pow, www.mrw.co.uk (29 September 2020 - accessed 5 October 2020). [3] Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Smoking related litter roundtable meeting, 2 Sep 2020, www.gov.uk (28 September 2020 - accessed 5 October 2020). You may also be interested in this article: DNF, Final warning for the polluting tobacco industry, Tobacco-Free Generation (July 18, 2020 - accessed October 5, 2020). DNF - For a Zero Tobacco World |