Cigarette butts: 12% of the waste found in the studied aquatic environments

A literature review published on March 14, 2026 in Environmental Chemistry Letters[1] This report provides an overview of cigarette butt pollution. It covers 55 countries and spans the period from 2013 to 2024. On average, researchers found one cigarette butt approximately every four square meters, and cigarette butts represent 12 million tons of the waste found in aquatic environments. This proportion exceeds 50 million tons in some coastal areas of Iran, Chile, Brazil, and Peru. The authors identified areas of high pollution in 17 countries, most often on beaches. Protected natural areas are nearly five times less affected than unprotected areas, but they are not spared. The authors recommend, in particular, recognizing cigarette butts as hazardous waste, banning cigarette filters, and strengthening the responsibility of the tobacco industry.

This review was conducted by researchers from the Federal University of São Paulo, the Johns Hopkins University Institute for Global Tobacco Control, and the Brazilian National Cancer Institute (INCA), among others. They compiled 130 scientific studies that reported field surveys carried out between 2013 and 2024 in urban or aquatic environments, totaling 2,723 measurements of the number of cigarette butts per square meter. When a study did not directly provide this measurement, the researchers calculated it from the total amount of litter collected. They then compared sites located in protected areas with others and classified pollution into seven levels. The highest level corresponds to "hotspots," meaning sites with the highest concentrations of cigarette butts. The data are unevenly distributed: 40 of the surveys came from Latin America and the Caribbean, and 77 were conducted on beaches. Africa, Oceania, and Central Asia are very poorly covered, and only six countries have been surveyed in urban areas. The authors therefore call for the implementation of harmonized, long-term monitoring.

Pollution varies greatly across different areas.

Across all the sites studied, the average density is 0.24 cigarette butts per square meter, or approximately one butt every four square meters. However, there are significant variations between sites. No cigarette butts were found in nearly 30 of the surveys, while other sites showed very high concentrations. These hotspots were identified in 17 countries between 2015 and 2023, the vast majority in aquatic environments. Asia has the highest concentration of these hotspots, despite having fewer surveys than Latin America. Iran alone accounts for 26 surveys classified as hotspots. The highest value was measured there in 2015, on the Persian Gulf coast: 38.32 cigarette butts per square meter. Next come Playa Blanca beach in Chile (24.11 in 2020), beaches in Thailand (13.30 in 2017), Boa Viagem beach in Brazil (8.85 in 2022), and Punta del Diablo beach in Uruguay (8.80 in 2019). In Europe, hotspots have been identified in Germany (up to 5.10 cigarette butts per square meter), Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, and Finland.

Beaches are the most polluted aquatic environments, with an average of 0.26 cigarette butts per square meter, followed by lagoons (0.12) and rivers (0.02). According to the authors, this is due to their popularity and urbanization. Rivers tend to carry cigarette butts rather than accumulate them. In cities, commercial areas are the most affected (0.33 cigarette butts per square meter), followed by residential areas (0.18), likely due to heavy pedestrian traffic and higher levels of tobacco consumption.

Cigarette butts, 12 % of aquatic waste

Based on 91 studies conducted in 50 countries, researchers were able to calculate the proportion of cigarette butts in all litter collected. In aquatic environments, they represent an average of 12 million tons (1.3 tons), or about one in eight pieces of litter, and slightly more on beaches (12.8 million tons). At some sites, they even constitute more than half of the litter: this is the case in 29 surveys, with a record of 85.7 million tons in Peru, followed by Brazil (66.7 million tons), Chile, and Israel (56 million tons). According to the authors, these results confirm that cigarette butts are the most discarded type of litter in the world.

Researchers note, however, that this contribution is often underestimated. In United Nations classification methods, cigarette butts are grouped under the general category of plastics, which includes 24 subcategories. Yet they are not solely composed of plastic: the plastic in the filters, via cellulose acetate, is combined with paper, tobacco residue, ash, and toxic substances that are released into the environment. The authors therefore call for cigarette butts to be counted separately in pollution monitoring.

Protecting green spaces and banning smoking significantly reduces pollution.

Researchers analyzed 613 surveys conducted in 165 protected areas across 37 countries. On average, there were 0.06 cigarette butts per square meter in protected areas, compared to 0.29 in unprotected areas—nearly five times less. Pollution decreases as protection becomes stricter. In fully protected areas, where access and human activities are severely restricted, it drops to 0.03 cigarette butts per square meter, about ten times less than in unprotected areas. In protected areas, pollution also tends to decrease slightly over the years, while it remains stable in unprotected areas. According to the authors, these results demonstrate that regulating human activities effectively limits the accumulation of cigarette butts.

These areas are not entirely spared, however. Researchers identified 13 hotspots in Bangladesh, Germany, Indonesia, Thailand, and Lithuania, including one in a national park designated as fully protected. Cigarette butts are durable and can travel long distances; they can therefore reach a protected area even if they were discarded elsewhere. The authors recommend banning smoking in these areas and integrating cigarette butt monitoring into management indicators. They note that several countries have established smoke-free beaches, including Spain, Italy, Mexico, Malaysia, and Canada, and that these bans have proven effective in reducing the presence of cigarette butts, particularly when accompanied by penalties.

More broadly, the authors call for better coordination between tobacco control and environmental protection. They recommend classifying cigarette butts as hazardous waste, banning cigarette filters, and holding the tobacco industry responsible for the waste it produces. They base their recommendations on Article 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which addresses environmental protection, and on the negotiations of the global treaty on plastic pollution.

Cigarette filters: growing calls for a ban

This review adds to the growing body of research demonstrating the harmful environmental impact of tobacco. According to the authors, approximately 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded worldwide each year. The filter, found on more than 98% of cigarettes, is a plastic component with no real purpose. Once discarded, it breaks down into microplastics and releases the toxic substances it has trapped into the water and soil. Victor Vasques Ribeiro, the study's lead author, describes it as a veritable "chemical bomb."«[2] upon contact with water. Recycling cigarette butts faces significant obstacles and does not address the root cause of the problem, as the CNCT points out. So-called "biodegradable" filters are not a solution either: they degrade very little in reality and also release harmful substances.

Today, the filter also offers no health benefits. Introduced primarily as a marketing tool, it makes the smoke less irritating, thus facilitating the initiation of smoking. It perpetuates the idea of a protective effect. This is why a growing number of voices are calling for its ban. The WHO advocated in 2023 for an immediate ban on plastics in tobacco products. The preparatory documents for COP11 of the UNFCCC, held in Geneva in November 2025, concluded that only a "source" approach—that is, a ban on the manufacture and sale of filter cigarettes—could meet the objectives of Article 18 of the treaty.[3]. In France, the National Committee Against Smoking (CNCT) has been calling for a ban on all filters for several years.[4], including those labeled biodegradable. The French authorities have also taken a position: in their contribution to the European Commission's call for contributions on the revision of tobacco legislation, in June 2026[5], They explicitly supported the ban on cigarette filters for the first time. Furthermore, since July 1, 2025, smoking has been prohibited on beaches, in public parks and gardens, and around schools in France.

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[1] Ribeiro VV et al., Global cigarette butt contamination: a review, Environmental Chemistry Letters, 24:463-484, published on March 14, 2026, accessed on October 8, 2026.

[2] Hanbury S. (Mongabay), Cigarette butts make up 12% of aquatic litter, global review finds, The Good Men Project, published on October 7, 2026, accessed on October 8, 2026.

[3] CNCT, The WHO supports the immediate ban on cigarette filters, published on September 28, 2023, accessed on October 8, 2026.

[4] CNCT, The CNCT is calling for a ban on all cigarette filters during the Plastics Treaty negotiations., published on May 25, 2023, accessed on October 8, 2026.

[5] Tobacco Free Generation, France is pushing the European Union towards more ambitious regulations on tobacco and nicotine, published on June 16, 2026, accessed on October 8, 2026.