Philip Morris International (PMI) launched “Our World is Not an Ashtray,” a new global initiative to raise awareness and drive a long-term change in behavior and attitudes around cigarette-butt littering.
The initiative supports PMI’s litter reduction target to achieve a 50 percent reduction of the plastic litter from its products by 2025 (vs. 2021 baseline). The initiative, launched on WorldNoAshtray.com, aims to educate the public about the environmental impact of cigarette-butt littering and inspire adult smokers to change littering habits.
“We seek to make cigarette-butt littering socially unacceptable,” said Huub Savelkouls, chief sustainability officer at PMI. “‘Our World is Not an Ashtray’ is an important initiative in our multipronged approach to addressing this important issue.”
To track progress against its goal, PMI is working with three organizations—Litterati, Cortexia, and CARTO—to implement a data-driven approach and assess the prevalence of cigarette-butt litter across the globe; identify litter hotspots; and monitor the impact of anti-littering activities. A pilot assessment will take place this summer in a pilot city before being rolled out in representative countries across the world in 2021 as part of a five-year assessment.