Plastic pollution treaty: call to ban cigarette filters

December 7, 2022

Par: National Committee Against Smoking

Dernière mise à jour: December 7, 2022

Temps de lecture: 5 minutes

Traité sur la pollution plastique : appel à interdire les filtres des cigarettes

More than 2,000 delegates from 160 countries gathered in Uruguay from November 28 to December 3 for the first of five planned sessions of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) for the UN treaty to end plastic pollution. Negotiations concluded with an agreement to end plastic pollution within the next two years. The text will be submitted to the UN Environment Assembly for adoption and will then be open for signature and ratification by countries. Several anti-smoking groups participated in the negotiations to include cigarette filters as single-use plastics and ban them[1].

On March 2, 2022, 175 member countries of the United Nations Environment Council (UNEC) adopted a resolution to negotiate a legally binding international agreement to end plastic pollution by the end of 2024. UNEA Resolution 5/14 mandated an open-ended working group to conduct preparatory work ahead of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) negotiations. The first session of the INC aims to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment. France will host the second session of negotiations on the international treaty on plastic pollution in spring 2023.

Countries divided on solutions to be implemented

UN members disagree on major issues, including the need to limit plastic production, phase out certain types of plastic and harmonize global rules[2].

Major oil and gas producers like the United States and Saudi Arabia, as well as most Asian countries, want the proposed treaty to be “bottom-up,” like the Paris climate change agreement. That means countries can make their own plans and set their own targets. On the other side, a coalition led by most European countries, Canada, Australia, smaller islands and a handful of African and Latin American states are calling for a treaty that would require all of them to take certain measures. That could include banning certain types of plastics.

The cigarette butt, a useless and toxic single-use plastic

Several tobacco control groups around the world, particularly Action for Smoking and Health (ASH), have been engaged in the negotiations to ensure that cigarette filters are included in any list of single-use plastics to be banned. In line with Article 5.3 of the WHO FCTC, these groups have also lobbied to ensure that the tobacco industry and other private actors with inherent conflicts of interest are not represented as “stakeholders” in the negotiations.

Cigarette butts remain the most commonly discarded item on earth. The World Health Organization estimates that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded each year, polluting habitats and waterways across the planet. Made of cellulose acetate, cigarette butts take up to 12 years to disintegrate and a single butt can pollute up to 500 liters of fresh water.

Cigarette filters have no health justification and were mainly designed to reduce the unpleasant sensations caused in smokers by tobacco smoke. They serve as a marketing argument for tobacco manufacturers to win over new consumers, particularly young people and women.

Thus, the WHO and anti-smoking organizations are calling for a complete ban on cigarette filters, the only solution to drastically reduce plastic pollution linked to them and, based on the polluter pays principle, make the tobacco industry financially responsible for the damage caused.[3].

In France, the National Committee against Smoking (CNCT) had already positioned itself in favour of banning filters and is calling on the public authorities to act in this direction.

Maintain vigilance over the continuation of negotiations

ASH recalls that this first round of negotiations was intended to prepare the ground, adopt rules of procedure and provide a general overview of what a possible treaty will include and that there is no draft treaty text yet. The secretariat of the negotiating body will endeavour to produce a preliminary draft that will serve as a basis for the next session in May 2023 in France. It is more than likely that the tobacco industry and its allies will do everything they can to derail the negotiations on the filter ban.

This potential ban on filters should also not be used as a means of communication for the industry, particularly by promoting "biodegradable" filters or "alternatives" to cigarettes, the harmful impacts of which on the environment have not yet been assessed.

Keywords: Plastic Treaty, Uruguay, pollution, filters, cigarette butts, negotiations

Photo credit : ©STOP

©Tobacco Free Generation

AE


[1] SYNOPSIS AND PROSPECTS: A PLASTICS POLLUTION TREATY NEGOTIATIONS, Action for Smoking and Health, published December 5, 2022, accessed December 6, 2022

[2] Valerie Volcovici, Countries split on plastics treaty focus as UN talks close, Reuters, published December 3, 2022, accessed December 6, 2022

[3] Paving the way for an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution and cigarette butts, ENSP, consulted on December 6, 2022

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