Raising awareness about cigarette butts: the tobacconists' greenwashing operation

Led by Philippe Coy, the Confédération des Buralistes has for several days been showing its desire to mobilize in an awareness-raising operation on the issue of cigarette butts. If the pollution caused by cigarette butts is today an indisputable fact, as well as a major ecological and health issue for local authorities, it remains that the tobacco industry can in no way be considered as a solution to this problem.

“ Cigarette filters are a marketing tool with no health benefits » (Thomas Novotny, epidemiologist)

First of all, it is worth mentioning that, from a strictly medical point of view, the existence of the filter has no justification. The latter was in fact invented by the tobacco industry to make people believe that cigarettes were less dangerous. The reality is quite different: the filter allows the consumer to take deeper and more prolonged puffs in the lungs.

Thus, it is more of a communication operation on the part of tobacconists, intended to improve the image of the tobacco industry through operations relating to Corporate Social Responsibility. This type of action is in fact a circumvention of the ban on direct or indirect advertising for tobacco products, which is one of the first principles set out by the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

The issue of cigarette butts must therefore be thought of differently. Since it is clear that filters have no health function, it is therefore essential to ban them from cigarette packets. The issue of cigarette butts is also colossal: they are particularly toxic waste and they represent 40% of the waste in the Mediterranean Sea. With an average time of 10 years to decompose, they actively contribute to the pollution of water and soil.