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Letters | Another way to cut plastic waste is to quit smoking
- Readers discuss the world’s cigarette butt problem, and why it still isn’t time to plunge into property investment
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Let us add quitting smoking as a vital way to reduce single-use plastic waste (“A few simple ways we can cut plastic waste”, February 25).
The vast majority of smokers, non-smokers and policymakers are unaware that cigarette filters, or butts, are made of a plastic called cellulose acetate. These filters are discarded into the environment at the rate of 4.5 trillion annually. Cigarette filters are among the most littered items along coastlines and are toxic and deadly to marine life.
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Tobacco control and environmental protection advocates have come together in support of the United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution currently under negotiation.
Of the over 140 countries with plans to deal with single-use plastics, few even mention cigarettes or holding the tobacco industry responsible for this and other environmental harms.
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Environmental protection agencies, take note.
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