Partnership with eco-organization Alcome contested in Fouesnant

The Fouesnant municipal council signed an agreement with the eco-organization Alcome on December 15, 2022. Opposition elected officials denounce this partnership and emphasize that Alcome is financed by tobacconists and tobacco manufacturers.

The commune of Fouesnant (Finistère) stands out for its commitment to the cleanliness of its beaches[1]. It is in this spirit that the elected officials of this city of 10,000 inhabitants (45,000 in summer) validated on December 15 a partnership agreement with the company Alcome, the eco-organization in charge of the recovery of cigarette butts. The objective of this agreement was mainly to obtain pocket ashtrays, willingly offered free of charge by the eco-organization.[2].

This decision was criticized by the city's opposition elected officials, who believed that smoking was a public health issue. The approximations reported by the local press, particularly regarding the cancellation by the Council of State of Alcome's approval, led to a request for a right of reply from Alcome and the mayor of Fouesnant.[3], specifying that the eco-organization is still authorized to carry out its actions. Several points, however, deserve to be untangled.

An eco-organization affiliated with the tobacco industry

The existence of an eco-organization facilitating waste recovery is one of the obligations arising from the reduction of single-use plastics and extended producer responsibility (EPR), which makes the manufacturer responsible for the waste from its products. A measure that primarily concerns tobacco manufacturers, the 4,500 billion cigarette butts thrown away each year worldwide being the first source of waste released into the environment. According to the "polluter pays" principle, producers are thus required to finance eco-organizations. But as far as tobacco products are concerned, they should be excluded from the governance of the system put in place. This is not the case in France with Alcome, whose directors are representatives of tobacco manufacturers.

Cancellation of missions of Alcome by the Council of State, on July 28, 2022, on two appeals brought by the Federation of Cigar Manufacturers for abuse of power, did not, however, suspend the operation of Alcome by providing for a continuation of authorized activity until December 31, 2022. In its new version, the Ministry of Ecological Transition revised in a minor way the first order, and granted Alcome an extension until March 7, allowing it to comply with the new provisions.

Antagonism between Alcome and public health

Despite numerous warnings from public health associations, the authorisation of Alcome, an offshoot of the tobacco industry, as an eco-organization poses a underlying problem. Frédéric Martin, opposition elected official in Fouesnant, recalls that "It is a company financed by tobacco professionals. This goes against a convention of the World Health Organization, ratified by France in 2004."[4] A reference to the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), whose article 5.3 prohibits any interference by the tobacco industry in public policies.

The opposition elected representatives of Fouesnant also highlighted the inconsistency of this partnership with public health objectives, and indicated that they would have favoured the option of a smoke-free city. "Our goal is to treat waste, not to reduce tobacco consumption", retorted Laure Caramaro, deputy mayor in charge of the living environment. Public health associations have nevertheless repeatedly pointed out that reducing smoking remains one of the best ways to protect the environment. The distribution of pocket ashtrays appears to them to be a subterfuge by cigarette manufacturers to shirk their responsibility onto smokers and renormalize tobacco consumption in public spaces. On the contrary, they advocate banning filters in cigarettes, the presence of which suggests an illusory protection against tobacco smoke, as well as taking into account electronic cigarettes, in particular disposable, in the missions of the eco-organization. The independence of the latter vis-à-vis the tobacco industry, to whom social and environmental responsibility (CSR) activities are in principle prohibited, is considered essential[5].

A policy contradictory to that of smoke-free beaches

Cap-Coz beach is currently the only one declared tobacco free in Fouesnant, an action implemented since the summer of 2016 and supported by the League against Cancer, which elected officials plan to extend to other beaches. This exemplary policy is however contradictory with the distribution of pocket ashtrays, which implicitly encourage tobacco consumption in all places.

To better understand the issues, consult our files on pocket ashtrays and on the eco-organization Alcome.

Keywords: Alcome, eco-organization, accreditation, Fouesnant, tobacco-free beaches

©Tobacco Free Generation

M.F.

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[1] From Saint John M, Finistère beaches: Fouesnant at the forefront for cleanliness, Actu.fr, Côté Quimper, published on July 14, 2021, consulted on January 27, 2023. [2] In Fouesnant, Alcome ashtrays sow discord among elected officials, Le Télégramme, published on January 21, 2023, consulted on January 27, 2023. [3] Fouesnant. Controversy over cigarette butts: reactions from the mayor and Alcome, Ouest France, published on January 24, 2023, consulted on January 27, 2023. [4] Fouesnant. Controversy over the collection of cigarette butts, Ouest France, published January 16, 2023, consulted January 27, 2023. [5] CNCT, The eco-organization ALCOME, a greenwashing tool for the tobacco industry in France, press release, published March 17, 2022, accessed January 27, 2023. National Committee Against Smoking |