The eco-organization Alcome condemned once again by the State

After being sanctioned for the first time last February by The Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, the eco-organization Alcome, managed by the main tobacco manufacturers, was again sanctioned for non-compliance with its specifications on June 4.

Alcome is an eco-organization composed exclusively of representatives of the tobacco sector: manufacturers and the Confederation of tobacconists. This system goes against good practices concerning the protection of public policies with regard to interference from the tobacco industry, which were nevertheless adopted by France in 2008 (WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control).

At the beginning of June, the Ministry of Ecological Transition imposed a new financial penalty on Alcome, which must pay the sum of 690,000 euros, judging that the latter does not respect its obligations. This new penalty imposed by the General Directorate for Risk Prevention (DGPR) is in addition to a first pronounced at the end of February, for an amount of 466,000 euros. With this new conviction, the DGPR has pronounced a total liquidation of the penalty and ends the dispute.

Alcome fined more than one million euros

Alcome was given a formal notice by the public authorities in June 2023 and then a daily penalty payment in November 2023[1] (up to 100 euros per day for the month of November, and 7,500 euros per day from 1 December) for failing to submit in time a draft amendment to the standard contract on financial support for cigarette butt collection devices (street ashtrays). Indeed, the eco-organization was required to cover at least half of the French population by the end of 2023, 75% by the end of 2024 and 90% by 2025. In February 2024, the Ministry of Ecological Transition decided to partially liquidate the penalty payment, in other words to request payment over a given period (i.e. 466,000 euros covering the period from 21 November 2023 to 31 January 2024) considering that Alcome had still not complied with its obligations.

The eco-organization then filed an appeal before the administrative judge in response to the decision to partially liquidate its financial penalty. The DGPR has not yet responded, but the total liquidation of the penalty, on the other hand, has since been pronounced. This administrative sanction thus covers the period from February 1 to May 2, 2024 and completes the first partial liquidation. In total, the conflict lasted one hundred and sixty-four days from the triggering of the financial penalty and brings the total amount of the sanction to 1.16 million euros.

Tobacco industry's reluctance to fund street ashtrays

As early as February 2021, the first version of the specifications for the sector provided that Alcome would supply ashtrays to public and private individuals whose activity generates cigarette butts being thrown into public spaces. But the measure was contested by tobacco producers, as well as many other obligations that they considered too costly. This was followed by numerous back-and-forths between the Ministry and the eco-organization, which was asked to specify certain provisions in the standard contract, in accordance with the specifications, in particular the financing of ashtrays in certain public establishments.

In December 2023, Alcome then sent a new standard contract to the ministry that provided for the financing of these ashtrays in public spaces but did not specify the terms of collection and treatment of cigarette butts, nor the amount of support and the payment terms. It was following this still-failing contract that the ministry justified the first financial sanction against the eco-organization in February 2024.

Alcome, an eco-organization that poses a problem

With 4,500 billion cigarette butts classified as toxic waste ending up in nature each year, filters, made of single-use, non-biodegradable plastic substances, are a major factor in environmental pollution of soil and water. In France, the collection, picking up and processing of the 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of cigarette butts thrown away each year also represents a considerable financial burden for the public sector. NGOs, such as the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT), a member of the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance, are calling for the tobacco industry to finance the damage caused to the environment and health by its products. This request directly refers to the "polluter pays" principle. However, the associations point out that this mechanism must not be misused by tobacco manufacturers as a lever for positive communication, as is currently the case with the Alcome system. For the CNCT, the appropriate eco-organization should be independent of tobacco manufacturers, the latter's contribution being limited to financing the system.

AE

[1] Generation without tobacco, Cigarette butts and street ashtrays: the government sanctions the eco-organization Alcome, published on November 23, 2023, consulted on June 24, 2024