The 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) begins next week in Geneva with the purpose of eradicating tobacco and nicotine products across the globe. The gathering will cover broad topics, including tobacco marketing, youth e-cigarette use, and public health strategies, but the topic of cigarette butts appears to be gaining traction.
WHO officials will address the environmental impact of cigarette waste—saying 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered globally each year, creating toxic microplastics—and are expected to call for an outright ban on plastic filters in their proposals, arguing they offer negligible benefits to smokers.
“The best thing that we could see for the environment is getting rid of filters altogether,” Andrew Black, acting head of the secretariat of the FCTC, said this week. “These discarded butts are toxic and a significant source of plastic pollution, due to their filters, which do not biodegrade.”
Industry representatives, such as Greenbutts CEO Tadas Lisauskas, are closely monitoring discussions, emphasizing the need for practical, balanced solutions that consider both environmental concerns and the livelihoods of tobacco farmers and manufacturers.
“Unfiltered cigarettes would reintroduce hazards society moved away from generations ago,” Lisauskas said. “A policy intended to protect public health should not expose consumers to additional, immediate physical harm.
“Pretending that filters must be banned to solve littering is a false choice. The environmental problem can be solved without removing a proven exposure-reduction feature.”
