More than 5 trillion cigarettes are sold globally every year, with 20 billion sold in California each year alone. At least one-third of these is discarded carelessly and inexcusably into the environment. Cigarette butt waste is everywhere. Washed into rivers, lakes and the ocean, eaten by birds, animals and fish – this most-littered item in the world can impact all of us.
But they’re not just litter. Cigarette butts leach toxic, organic chemicals and heavy metals into the environment. They damage habitat and ecosystems; poison wildlife, pets, and children; and ignite destructive, deadly fires. Butt waste cleanup is expensive, too. A recent San Francisco litter audit found that city’s cleanup cost to be $5.6 million annually, resulting in a 20-cent per pack fee that covers those costs. Elsewhere, taxpayers and local agencies bear those costs.
Almost all cigarettes have filters made of cellulose acetate (a plastic) that is non-biodegradable. While ultraviolet sun rays eventually break them into smaller, even microscopic pieces, the toxins still leach into the environment. Many smokers believe filters provide health protection – that they somehow reduce the health effects of smoking – but U.S. National Cancer Institute publications, among others, affirm that there are no benefits to public health from filters; they just make it easier to sell cigarettes to kids and harder for smokers to quit.
Cleanup and prevention of cigarette butt waste needs to be the responsibility of those who profit from the sale of tobacco products, not the taxpayers. This includes the tobacco industry, distributors and sellers, and not just the smoker. The environmental principle of Extended Producer Responsibility should apply to cigarette butts, just as it does to other toxic, harmful waste products such as used computers, batteries and plastic packaging. EPR appropriately places the full cost of cleanup and disposal on the tobacco industry, with costs internalized in the retail price. Local responsibility for cleanup and prevention should also be shared by businesses that profit from tobacco use.
Public awareness of the environmental impacts of tobacco use barely registers compared with the attention given to the horrendous human health effects of smoking. Smoking is still the single most important preventable cause of death in the U.S., with 20 percent of all deaths attributable to this addiction.
More attention and actions on preventing butt waste are needed. On March 8-9, the California Tobacco Control Program sponsored a “Tobacco Waste Summit” in Sacramento. This dynamic two-day gathering of about 40 national, state and local environmental and tobacco-control experts discussed a variety of innovative interventions and solutions to the butt waste problem.
For example, smoke-free outdoor areas, such as college campuses, restaurant patios, parks and beaches, can support healthy, smoke-free environments that help prevent butt waste deposition. Other actions could include better enforcement of existing litter/pollution violations; labeling cigarettes as toxic waste; raising the visibility of the butt waste environmental impact through various advertisements, social media and public service announcements; and mandatory “take back” policies, with the onus placed on the tobacco industry to assure safe disposal of butt waste. Some communities have placed more butt waste receptacles on sidewalks, beaches and in parks; this is great as a short term response, but more upstream solutions are needed.