‘Toxic ticking time bomb’: plastic pollution from cigarettes costs US$26 billion a year, study finds
- China, the world’s largest tobacco producer and consumer, estimated to contribute around 20 per cent of the global cost
- Researcher calls for immediate ban on cigarette butts, describing them as a ‘problematic and avoidable single-use plastic’
Plastic pollution from cigarette butts and packaging costs an estimated US$26 billion a year worldwide in terms of waste management and the impact on marine ecosystems, according to a new study.
Over a decade the cost was estimated to reach US$186 billion, adjusted for inflation.
“Countries are making progress in developing plastics policies, particularly banning single-use ones, but the costs of tobacco’s plastic pollution are overlooked,” study author Deborah Sy wrote in an article published in peer-reviewed journal Tobacco Control on Tuesday.
“Efforts to reduce plastic pollution should address cigarette filters as toxic, widespread and preventable sources of marine pollution. Countries may develop specific estimates of waste management and ecosystem costs in order to assign tobacco industry accountability for this pollution.”
Cigarette butts are among the most littered items in the world, and the second biggest form of plastic pollution. Filters are commonly put in cigarettes but research has shown that they do not reduce the harms from smoking.