Plastic treaty: countries strongly support banning cigarette filters during negotiations

The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4) tasked with developing a legally binding international treaty to end plastic pollution concluded on 29 April 2024 in Ottawa, Canada, after a week of slow but significant progress. The Stop Tobacco Pollution Alliance (STPA) and Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), present at the negotiations, welcomed the support of government delegations for a ban on cigarette filters, despite the strong presence of lobbyists from the affected industries at the negotiations.[1].

The list of plastics to be banned will be finalized at the fifth round of negotiations to be held from 25 November 2024 in Busan, Republic of Korea. However, based on the established criteria, cigarette filters top the list. Around 4.5 trillion used filters are thrown into the environment each year. The filters are made of cellulose acetate, which breaks down into microplastics that take a long time to degrade and release toxins and carcinogens into terrestrial and aquatic environments.

Recycling cigarette filters is not a viable solution. There is no process to remove the toxins, recycle the plastic, or turn the recycled plastic into other products.

Several countries support ban on cigarette filters

During the negotiations, several countries proposed banning cigarette filters, including Peru, Panama and Switzerland. The World Health Organization also issued a joint statement with the secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) calling for a ban on cigarette filters and other single-use plastic waste products. Their joint statement calls on the Committee to recognize the WHO FCTC COP10 decision on the environmental impact of tobacco.

Significant presence of industry lobbyists at negotiations

An analysis[2] A review of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) list of participants by the Centre for International Environmental Law (CIEL) revealed that 196 lobbyists from the fossil fuel and chemical industries have registered for the negotiations in Canada, more than the 180 representatives from the European Union delegations.

According to Global Center for Good Governance in Tobacco Control (GGTC)[3], at least five NGO observers have been found to have links to tobacco manufacturers. GGTC, however, points out that this list is not exhaustive and that several other entities linked to the tobacco industry or supporting its interests have not yet been included in this list. Only entities with documented long-standing links to the tobacco industry (TI) have been included at this time.

To prevent industry interference during the negotiations, CIEL, GGTC and ASH sent a letter, signed by over 100 organizations, on 17 April 2024 to Executive Director Anderson and Secretary Mathur-Filipp of the Committee Secretariat requesting that the Committee implement Article 5.3 of the FCTC. This Article is a general obligation to protect the general interest from the interests of manufacturers whose interests are irreconcilably opposed. This standard thus aims to protect the negotiations and the outcome of the plastics treaty from conflicts of interest. This standard also aims in the implementation of the treaty to adopt codes of conduct consistent with established policies. Article 5.3 could thus be used by the Secretariat and the Committee as a model for policies to protect against other conflicts of interest from the petrochemical and plastics industries.

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[1] Press release, UN Plastics Treaty Negotiations Move Forward with Strong Support for Banning Cigarette Filters, Action on smoking and Health, published April 30, 2024, accessed May 3, 2024

[2] Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Outnumber National Delegations, Scientists, and Indigenous Peoples at Plastics Treaty Negotiations, Center for International Environmental Law, published April 25, 2024, accessed May 3, 2024

[3] Tobacco Industry Must Be Removed from Plastics Treaty Negotiations, GGTC, published May 1, 2024, accessed May 3, 2024