Report questions current system of extended producer responsibility for tobacco

A report by the Surfrider Foundation takes stock of the application of extended producer responsibility (EPR) to plastic filters for tobacco products within the European Union; it highlights the delays and limitations of the system, for which recommendations are formulated.

Adopted in 2019, the European directive on single-use plastics (SUP Directive) also applies to plastic filters in tobacco products. Since cigarette butts are the most common type of ground litter, their collection and treatment represent significant costs, previously borne exclusively by local authorities. This directive establishes, with the implementation of extended producer responsibility (EPR), the environmental responsibilities of manufacturers.

A report by the Surfrider Europe Foundation, published on behalf of the Rethink Plastic alliance, today provides an update on the progress of this SUP directive and the EPR system applied to plastic cigarette filters.[1]. This report briefly recalls, beyond the scope of the directive, the extent of environmental damage linked to tobacco. The authors critically analyse the implementation of the various obligations provided for in the directive: the transposition of the text in the different Member States, the assumption of the costs of collecting cigarette butts and their treatment, the governance of ecosystems, information obligations, etc.

Delays in transposition of the directive

While the European directive on single-use plastics has been transposed into the legislation of most European countries, some countries have not yet integrated it. Among the countries lagging behind in this regard are Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia and Cyprus.

In the countries where it has been transposed, this directive has most often been reproduced without any particular adaptation. In these cases, the costs attributed to manufacturers have often been limited to those mentioned in the directive, without taking into account all the environmental damage attributable to the tobacco industry.[2]Some countries have cited the delay in the publication by the European Commission of guidelines on cleaning cost criteria as a reason for postponing the transposition of this directive.

Only a few countries have introduced additional details and provisions to increase the potential of the directive. Some have, for example, set reduction targets. Others have called for bans on cigarette filters or disposable e-cigarettes ("puffs").

The question of the tobacco industry's place in the system.

The authors of the report welcome the application of the polluter-pays principle implemented within the framework of the European Directive on single-use plastics. However, regarding tobacco products, they point out that the tobacco industry is not an industry like any other. Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, ratified by the European Union and all its member states, requires that public policies be protected from interference by this industry, on the basis of the irreconcilable nature of the objectives respectively pursued. However, some eco-organizations responsible for implementing the directive are composed of representatives of tobacco manufacturers. The latter have been entrusted with awareness-raising campaigns on tobacco waste or have been involved in them.

According to the Surfrider Europe Foundation, keeping industry out of decisions concerning EPR would, on the one hand, ensure greater efficiency. On the other hand, it would rule out the possibility of being used by industrialists to present themselves as responsible actors and improve their image.

Surfrider Europe recommends seizing certain regulatory opportunities at the international level, such as the negotiation of the treaty on plastics in 2024 and 2025, or the revision of the European directive on single-use plastics in 2027. A coalition of 130 environmental and health organisations had, in 2023, thus requested that the issue of banning cigarette filters be included in the treaty on plastics.

Keywords: Surfrider Foundation Europe, extended producer responsibility, filter, plastic

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[1] Top G, Single Use Plastics Directive Implementation Assessment Report, Surfrider Foundation, report, February 2024, 44 p.

[2] Pollution: Cigarette manufacturers do not pay enough, Reporterre, published February 5, 2024, consulted February 6, 2024.