Cigarette filters, a major issue in the treaty on plastic pollution

Ahead of the second round of negotiations on the treaty on plastic pollution, which will be held in Paris from 29 May to 2 June 2023, a webinar organized by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC) clarified the axes that the actors in the fight against tobacco will defend. Banning cigarette filters is the main objective of the organizations fighting against tobacco and protecting the environment.

Adopting a legally binding treaty to end plastic pollution was the purpose of the resolution adopted on 2 March 2022 by 175 member countries of the United Nations Environment Council (UNEC). Five preparatory work sessions are planned before the negotiations of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) to lead to the adoption of the treaty; first was held from November 28 to December 3, 2022 in Punta del Este (Uruguay), the second will take place at the end of May 2023 in Paris. Originally planned for the end of 2024, this treaty should be able to be completed in 2025.

Filters, a major source of plastic pollution

For their part, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) fighting against smoking and protecting the environment have been warning for years about the considerable share of waste from tobacco and nicotine products in environmental pollution. 4,500 billion cigarette butts are thrown on the ground each year, permanently polluting land, rivers and oceans and constituting one of the main types of waste in the world. filters Since cigarette cases are made of plastic (cellulose acetate), NGOs intend to have them recognized as one of the major causes of pollution and are demanding that their ban be included in this treaty. Enacted on December 17, 2022, the European Commission's implementing regulation (EU) 2020/2151 has, for example, already specified that the marking single-use plastic products include filters used for tobacco products[1].

Organized by the Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC), an international webinar was held on April 13, 2023, to prepare for the second preparatory work session. On this occasion, Jyoti Mathur-Philipp, representative of the United Nations Environment Program, reiterated the need for the treaty on plastic pollution to be legally binding, and not just an invitation to states to develop their own roadmap. Louis Vayas Valdivieso, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, called for financial and implementation mechanisms to be deployed to ensure the implementation of the treaty.

Countering pressure and manipulation from industrialists

Nicolas Lopez Calvez, a researcher at San Diego State University, pointed out that cigarette butt collection actions are often carried out by local communities and NGOs and confirmed that cigarette butt recycling does not work; he also noted that several articles (5.3, 9, 10, 13, 17, 18 and 19) of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) can be used to combat environmental pollution. Carroll Muffett, from the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), mentioned that the presence of microplastics is found everywhere and that products should be systematically subject to compliance checks.

Chris Bostic, from the US branch of Action on Smoking And Health (ASH), regretted that the CIN was open to industry and that there was no protection against their interference, as required by Article 5.3 of the FCTC. He highlighted the central issue of cleaning up, warning against the tobacco industry's attempts to use it as a field for corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions. Finally, he recalled the key messages of the Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA) according to which not only filters represent toxic waste, but also that e-cigarette waste (disposable or not) and heated tobacco devices also constitute them.

Bringing all of these considerations to bear will be one of the challenges of the second session of the preparatory work of the ICN. The speakers at the webinar called for pressure on governments to actively participate in this negotiation process and contribute to the banning of cigarette filters.

To go further, read our decryption.

Keywords: Filter, plastics treaty, CIN, GGTC, STPA.

M.F.

[1] FCTC, New marking on tobacco products filters containing plastic in the European Union, accessed April 14, 2023.