The Hebdo Ecolo association has collected more than a million cigarette butts in France

In a press release released on February 20, the Hebdo Ecolo association declared that it had passed the million mark for cigarette butts collected in France through its collections. Founded in 2020, the association has since organized more than 100 events in 22 cities to achieve this result. 1,900 volunteers and 20,000 hours of work were required.

Eco Weekly is a general interest association whose objective is to preserve the environment through awareness-raising workshops on biodiversity and "field" actions aimed at depolluting European cities, in particular through the collection of cigarette butts. It carries out an information and awareness-raising mission on the health and environmental impact of the tobacco industry and develops an advocacy action to alert the public authorities and encourage them to take strong and immediate measures against this industrial epidemic.

It has branches in several European cities, notably in France, Germany and Spain.

The environmental burden of cigarette butts

It is estimated that around the world 4,500 billion cigarette filters out of the 5,500 billion cigarettes produced by the tobacco industry each year end up thrown into the environment. According to Hebdo Ecolo, in France, 50,000 cigarette butts are thrown on the ground every minute.

These filters, which contain cellulose acetate, take up to 12 years to decompose. Each filter can pollute up to 500 liters of water. Collecting one million cigarette butts corresponds to the preservation of 500 million liters of water, or the amount of water that 900,000 French people drink in one year. These results are all the more striking given that France and many countries are in a drought situation.

Cigarette butts are highly toxic waste and there is currently no sustainable recycling solution for this waste: even when they are thrown in trash cans, cigarette butts are incinerated. In addition, the presence of filters does not reduce the risks for smokers. They were introduced by manufacturers mainly for marketing purposes, in response to consumers' concerns about their health. In addition, by partially masking the harshness of the products, filters facilitate the introduction of smoking. Filters therefore contribute to the development of the tobacco epidemic.

The cost of managing tobacco waste

The collection of cigarette butts on public roads or beaches is currently the responsibility of local authority cleaning services, which are financed by taxes. It is estimated that cigarette butt collection in France costs €38 per inhabitant per year. In addition to local authorities, it is often environmental associations, with the help of many volunteers, who help to clean the streets and beaches of cigarette butts.

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). The latter makes the manufacturer responsible for the waste from its products and according to the "polluter pays" principle, producers are thus required to finance eco-organizations. In France, the eco-organization Alcome is responsible for collecting cigarette butts.[1].

While the obligation for manufacturers to pay for the coverage of part of the environmental costs caused by the disposal of this waste is not called into question, the operation and governance of Alcome itself remain problematic. Alcome's directors are in fact all representatives of the tobacco industry, which is not only contrary to the provisions of the WHO Framework Convention (CCLAT) but also counterproductive.

The tobacco industry's interest is, in fact, in no way to reduce the amount of waste. Its objective remains to continue to sell its products or even to increase their consumption, which is opposed to the objective of eliminating this toxic waste itself, the first solution to be favoured. Furthermore, if the industry is given the opportunity to communicate at this level as is the case today with Alcome, its strategy will be to present a positive image of its activity, to conceal its direct responsibility for the environmental damage it directly causes and to transfer this responsibility for cigarette butts exclusively onto smokers.

Banning filters is the only way to reduce cigarette butt pollution

A recent Dutch study[2] demonstrated that the only way to reduce cigarette butt pollution was to ban the filter completely. Several organizations around the world are committed to pushing for a filter ban, particularly through future negotiations for an international treaty to end plastic pollution.

The tobacco industry and its allies are expected to vehemently oppose this measure and propose "pseudo alternatives" either through recycling or through the introduction of biodegradable filters.[3]. In reality, this last option is a false good solution because these filters always remain impregnated with the toxic elements of the cigarette and continue to disseminate dangerous chemicals and metals.

However, by appearing as a "force for proposals", the tobacco industry aims to be a stakeholder in decisions in order to steer them in its own interests, which are opposed to the general interest, whether health or environmental.

Read the Hebdo Ecolo press release (PDF)

Keywords: Hebdo Ecolo, cigarette butts, pollution, collection, filter, plastic treaty, lobby, environment

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[1] Tobacco-free generation, Alcome: Why the eco-organization for the fight against cigarette butts is problematic, published March 17, 2022, accessed March 8, 2023

[2] Generation without tobacco, Banning the filter is the only way to reduce pollution linked to cigarette butts, published March 6, 2023, accessed March 8, 2023

[3] Generation without tobacco, Contribution of Smoke Free Partnership to the review process of the European Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC, published on August 23, 2022, consulted on March 8, 2023