Category: Sustainability

Feelm Commits to Net-Zero Emissions

Photo: Parradee | Adobe Stock
Feelm, a division of China-based vaping hardware manufacturer Smoore International, released its “Race to Zero” roadmap to carbon neutrality. Feelm stated that its plan brings forward the company’s ambitions to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 in its direct production activities and indirect purchased energy, according to a company press release. The company has also made a commitment to use renewable energies in at least 30 percent of its total energy consumption by 2030.
“As one of China’s first atomization tech brands to make a carbon neutrality commitment, Feelm pledges to reach net zero in full supply chain and full product lifespan by developing sustainable products, improving energy efficiency with automated production, supporting the supply chain in decarbonization, and increasing renewable energies and eco-friendly materials,” the press release states. “Feelm, being the world’s largest closed vape system solution provider, plays a significant role in the global vaping supply chain.
“On the one hand, it provides millions of global consumers with premium product experience by virtue of partnership with vaping brands around the world; on the other hand, Feelm has been leading a sustainable revolution in the supply chain.”
Beginning in 2019, Feelm pioneered a number of green vaping solutions. The company won the iF Design Award 2020 for its disposable paper e-cigarette, which is made up of spiral composite paper tubing that improves “the degradability rate to approximately 76 percent of the total volume” compared to the plastic used in traditional vaping products.
Feelm is also set to unveil another eco-friendly non-nicotine disposable e-cigarette at Vaper Expo U.K. 2022 in late May. The new device was awarded the Red Dot Award for Product Design 2022. Its external structure is composed of recyclable and reusable aluminum foil. It looks similar to a paper foil pouch that also serves as a packaging bag, which reduces the amount of packaging materials.
“In addition to developing sustainable products, Feelm has also partnered with suppliers to develop and encourage utilizing biodegradable materials while optimizing the water, electricity and gas consumption management,” the release states. “Feelm is also working with global customers to promote the recycling and reusing so as to explore a feasible path toward carbon neutrality for the product lifespan and the supply chain.”
May 20, 2022
PMI Releases New Integrated Report

Photo: Tobacco Reporter Archive
Philip Morris International released its third annual Integrated Report, which includes an updated Statement of Purpose, a new environmental, social and governance (ESG) framework as well as detailed information about PMI’s strategic vision, performance, governance and value creation model. The content was informed by a formal sustainability materiality assessment conducted in 2021.
“Sustainability and business performance are fully interrelated and mutually reinforcing. Our actions—grounded in data, science and facts—speak louder than words. PMI is committed to serving as an agent of change and advocate of positive values. We understand that our business must become a provider of effective alternatives to continued smoking for adult smokers who don’t quit. To achieve this, we are positioning ourselves at the forefront of consumer centricity, technology, science and innovation. With an eye to the long term, we are also expanding our business into areas beyond tobacco and nicotine, such as wellness and healthcare,” said Jacek Olczak, CEO of PMI, in a company press release.
The company’s 2021 sustainability materiality assessment helped identify the ESG issues on which PMI should prioritize and focus its resources. PMI subsequently redesigned its ESG framework, recognizing two distinct topic areas: those related to PMI’s products and those related to its business operations. This distinction forms the basis of PMI’s new approach to sustainability, which consists of eight clear impact-driven strategies that aim to address its most material ESG topics. These eight strategies—four aimed to address the impact of PMI’s products and four aimed to address the company’s operational impact—are accompanied by a robust framework of nine governance-related factors.
“I’m proud to be able to say that our executive compensation program now reflects our commitment to put sustainability at the core of our corporate strategy,” said Emmanuel Babeau, chief financial officer at PMI. “PMI’s Sustainability Index aligns us even further with the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders, forming a strong link between our executive compensation practices and the company’s short-[term] and long-term ESG performance.”
May 18, 2022
WHO Accuses Industry of ‘Greenwashing’

Photo: nito
The World Health Organization is urging governments worldwide to ban tobacco industry “greenwashing”—the touting of sustainability credentials as a way to distract from the health and environmental impacts of smoking.
In a new report, the health groups detail efforts by the tobacco industry to improve its image.
“This kind of activity gives the impression that the tobacco industry is socially and environmentally responsible,” the report’s authors warn. “Yet this industry is causing an incalculable toll on health to smokers, non-smokers and farmers. And not only is tobacco harming humans, it is also damaging the environment.”
Tobacco companies frequently tout their environmental credentials, and their efforts have been recognized by independent organizations. Most multinationals feature prominently on CDP’s prestigious A list, for example. CDP is a not-for-profit charity that runs a global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities and regions to manage their environmental impacts. Its process is acknowledged as the gold standard of corporate environmental transparency.
Tobacco companies also rank highly on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, a global sustainability benchmark that tracks the stock performance of the world’s leading companies in terms of economic, environmental and social criteria.
Critics contend that ESG rankings and accreditations rarely consider a company’s end-product or service, in this case, ignoring the fact that tobacco products are harmful to human health, according to the report.
The report says there are more than 600 different ways to assess corporate ESG activity and there are no global, standardized disclosure requirements for companies to follow, which means businesses can edit sustainability data to promote a favorable outcome.
The authors of the greenwashing reports urge organizations to avoid partnerships with cigarette companies engaged in environmental activities that could promote the industry as an environmental partner.
The WHO/STOP report also highlights the ecological impact of the tobacco industry. Annually, 32 million tons of tobacco leaf is grown globally to produce 6 trillion cigarettes, according to its authors. It takes about 22 billion tons of water to grow the global crop, often in places where water is limited, they argue.
The report estimates that nearly 1.5 billion acres of global forest have been lost to tobacco farming since the 1970s. Electronic cigarettes, meanwhile, introduce plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals, lead, mercury and lithium-ion batteries into the environment.
May 16, 2022
ALD Group to Launch Biodegradable Vape Next Year

Photo: Timothy Donahue
ALD Group Limited (ALD) is set to launch the first biodegradable vaping product worldwide in mid-2023, the company announced at today’s In Focus event. The product will also be 90 percent recyclable (including the packaging, plastic shell, PCBA, mouthpiece and battery).
Currently named the Eco-friendly, Biodegradable Vape Solution (EBVS), the new device will take as little as three months to biodegrade, and was created in response to consumer and market demand.
Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Shenzhen, China, ALD is a high-tech enterprise specializing in electronic atomization technology research and applications. ALD′s business covers electronic nicotine delivery systems, inhaled medical vaporizer and heated tobacco products.
The plastic components in ALD’s eco-friendly vape solutions use innovative biodegradable raw materials like PBS, and the shell and structural parts do not come into contact with e-liquid; addressing the challenge of vaping producers whose single-use plastic pod products cannot be recycled due to the residues left over from e-liquids.
“The innovative factor is that our extensive research showed that in the e-cigarette sector there was currently no ready-made solution for the application of biodegradable materials,” said Eric Ding, founder and president of ALD Group.
“During development, we screened dozens of materials, repeatedly verified product performance and, finally, determined the seven best mixes of materials. Our processes included the verification of material strength, chemical resistance, extractability and degradability.”
The engineering validation and testing evaluation of its new device was completed in mid-2021, and the shelf life and biodegradability testing are expected to be completed in mid-2022.
Tobacco Reporter profiled ALD’s environmental efforts in its May 2022 print edition (see “Combating Waste).
May 5, 2022
Combating Waste

Photo: Timothy Donahue
ALD Group is designing products that will help combat the growing concerns surrounding e-cigarette waste.
By Timothy S. Donahue
Disposable e-cigarettes produce a lot of waste. Many of today’s most popular vaping products are designed to be discarded after one use. While less wasteful than disposables, single-use plastic pod products also generate a lot of waste as pods can’t be recycled due to the residues left over from e-liquids. As the vaping industry converts more combustible cigarette smokers, vapor manufacturers are seeking to develop products that are less impactful on the environment.
ALD Group, a leading China-based e-cigarette manufacturer, said that many industries are also facing new environmental regulatory requirements in some markets and that consumers are demanding more sustainable products. Business owners are responding by investing more in corporate social responsibility programs and the R&D required to create more environmentally friendly products. However, those goals come with challenges.
One of the issues ALD faced in the development of its new disposable products was that traditional recycling programs for vaping products were time-consuming, inefficient and costly. Manufacturers struggled to keep retailers and consumers actively participating in recycling programs, such as e-waste drop-off sites. ALD wanted to develop an eco-friendly vape solution that satisfied consumers and used biodegradable and recyclable materials. The company wanted to redefine vaping systems to align with eco-friendly trends.
ALD Group founder and President Eric Ding told Tobacco Reporter that ALD’s vision is inseparable from society and the environment. Innovation is part of ALD’s mission, and with social responsibility as a core principle, its new disposable product is “at the very heart” of ALD, according to Ding.
“Before the development of this product, we always made a concerted effort in promoting environmental protection and awareness, including the implementation of power-saving management systems, regular environmental protection activities and so on,” Ding said. “While we are always developing products in response to challenges being confronted in the global market, ALD balances this with paying close attention to the reminders and warnings from the natural environment. It is ALD’s view that the uncontrolled production and disposal of single-use products that contain plastics, chemicals, batteries, etc., is ecologically damaging and cannot be sustained.”
The latest ALD vaporizer is equipped with the company’s innovative iCot coil technology, which is the subject of more than 60 patent applications. Currently named the “Eco-friendly, Biodegradable Vape Solution” (EBVS), the new device was created in response to customer and market demand. Last year, numerous international tobacco customers approached ALD with requests to make e-cigarettes more environmentally friendly, ALD said in a statement.
“Additionally, our insights are that reducing the carbon footprint of products will become a mainstream demand over the next two [years] to three years,” the statement said. “There are existing policies which point to these developments, such as requirements for the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States, packaging regulations in Europe and so on.” The EBVS device was created through the “redefinition of materials, structure and appearance.” There were also several breakthroughs in heat resistance, endurance, chemical resistance and other properties. However, the company is not yet sharing many of these innovations until after the product goes to market.
“The key focus of the development process was improvement of product structure and the evaluation of the materials’ properties. Following this step, there was the inspection and evaluation of the finished product’s performance and research on the safety of the aerosol. The project has so far gone through two years of development.”
The ALD eco-friendly vape solution’s plastic components use an innovative combination of biodegradable raw materials that obtained the German DIN CERTO biodegradable certification. The shell of the device and the structural parts don’t come into contact with e-liquid and are all made of biodegradable materials.
“The innovative factor is that our extensive research showed that in the e-cigarette sector, there was currently no ready-made solution for the application of biodegradable materials. During development, we screened dozens of materials, repeatedly verified product performance and, finally, determined the seven best mix[es] of materials,” ALD stated. “Our processes included the verification of material strength, chemical resistance, extractability and degradability.
“Additionally, this product can be easily disassembled with special tools. We have achieved this through an innovative structural design. If the product is recycled, the battery and electronic parts can be recovered easily because of the easy-to-disassemble structure. Also, 100 percent of its structural parts (i.e., plastic parts, which amount to 23 percent of the product’s total weight) are degradable after disassembly. If the product is not recycled, the plastic parts are still degradable naturally in the landfill.”
The EBVS product will be available in all ALD markets, according to ALD. The Engineering Validation and Testing evaluation was completed in mid-2021, and the shelf life and biodegradability testing are expected to be completed in mid-2022. The launch date for ALD’s new product is planned for mid-2023.
Timothy Donahue is the assistant editor of Tobacco Reporter. Since joining our team in January 2013, he has become not only an expert on the traditional tobacco business but also a well-respected voice in the rapidly developing vapor industry. Tim spends much of his time on the road, attending conferences and interviewing industry representatives. His networking skills, work ethic and quick mind are valuable assets to our diverse audience.

May 1, 2022
The Virtuous Loop

Illustration: Hauni
Reducing waste and saving energy in manufacturing boosts revenues, improves customer satisfaction and reduces environmental damage.
By George Gay
Filter cigarettes and the hinge-lid packs in which, on many markets, most cigarettes are sold have been available in similar forms for 60 years to 70 years, and, during that time, their manufacture has been guided by increasingly specialized materials suppliers, brand owners and machinery builders that have become environmentally aware, commercially astute and technically advanced. So, on being asked to write a story looking at what tobacco machinery suppliers are doing to reduce the usage of energy and the creation of waste during the operation of their machines by tobacco manufacturers, my first thought was that perhaps, after so many years of development, there wasn’t much more that could be achieved.
I needn’t have been concerned. While the central objects of the exercise, the cigarette and pack, remain, to the uninitiated at least, much the same, the focus and interests of machinery suppliers have broadened to take in everything from how their employees get from home to work through production materials to the new industrial revolution. There is even a focus by one company on the efficiencies of factories that might or might not use its machinery.

Aiger recently installed a 350 MW solar power system on the roof of a new manufacturing bay. (Photo: Aiger)
Nurturing a Mindset
But what about the bit concerning how your employees get from home to work? How does that fit into the grand scheme of things? I hear you ask. Well, according to Courtland Macduff, Aiger’s sales director for Asia, this has to do with the idea that if you are going to improve the operational efficiencies of the equipment you offer in respect of such things as energy usage and waste, you need to build such thinking into the ethos of the company. Aiger had set up, for instance, a carpool system that allows its employees to get to work using less gasoline and creating fewer carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions than they would if they all traveled alone. Four years ago, the company introduced efficient waste management systems to deal with everything from machining waste to general consumables. And, on a larger scale, it recently installed a 350 MW solar power system on the roof of a new manufacturing bay, allowing it to function as a smart factory in which heating and lighting are based on zone scheduling, a system that has provided for a 20 percent saving in energy costs.
As Macduff said during an email exchange, saving energy and reducing waste worked by example, so now, every design engineer was focused on smart solutions aimed at providing better machine performance because the faster a manufacturer was able to operate with the highest uptime, the less waste was generated. But this had to involve a joint effort. Machinery manufacturers could have only a limited impact on operational waste if factories didn’t maintain high efficiencies by optimizing their procedures and materials.
But no operation could be perfect, so, at the same time, Aiger machinery “digested” rejects as far as possible by recycling tobacco shorts and reclaiming the tobacco. End-of-bobbin machine production wastage had been reduced as had glue application.
In reducing energy usage, designers were, for instance, working on the optimization of drive selections and had already minimized the power consumption of heating elements by using a higher level of temperature control and new insulation materials to protect the areas heated to high temperatures, which was one of the major power drains. At the same time, designers were constantly looking to incorporate new technologies.
In this regard, Macduff made the interesting comment that while new technologies were welcome, they came at a price, so they had to be introduced at the right time and for the right reasons. Tobacco companies would not pay more simply to have a machine that used less energy. Output mattered at the end of the day, and high efficiency was not negotiable.
There was something of a trade-off to be made here. While modern machinery was generally faster and more reliable and consistently produced better quality products than was the case in the past, such improvements did not necessarily lend themselves to energy savings because the newer machinery used more controls, more automation and more drives.
But there are other areas where savings of one type or another can be made, often working in conjunction with materials suppliers and tobacco manufacturers. Factory floor layouts could be optimized, said Macduff; optical fibers could replace cables; new, harder-wearing materials could ensure that parts had longer lives; and the 3D printing of parts at customer sites could cut the impact of transporting such materials. Coreless bobbins could be introduced, filters and packaging materials that are more environmentally friendly could be brought in and the use of plastics could be reduced in respect of packaging materials for tobacco products and even machinery exports.
Finally, Macduff said Aiger was one of the leaders in machinery manufacturing flexibility, and the modular concepts engineered into its machinery helped to keep efficiencies high in the face of brand changes, which always created a degree of startup waste.

Montrade now offers technology to help tobacco companies to manufacture plastic-free filters. (Photo: Montrade)
Win, Win, Win
Meanwhile, Montrade’s senior sales manager, Emanuele Massari, said his company’s machines were designed so as to map product flow because the focus was on maximizing product quality while minimizing material consumption and waste. The company had a division dedicated to the research and development of sensor and process control systems that, once integrated into its machines or even those of other companies, enhanced productivity optimally. “It is an essential step of the migration toward industry 4.0,” he said- in what I took to be a reference to the sorts of new processes that focus on interconnectivity, automation and machine learning.
Artificial intelligence provided all Montrade’s sensors with auto-learning skills, so systems improved themselves autonomously, he said. And such autonomous maintenance initiatives helped provide for an increase in machinery MTBFs (mean time between failures), which, in turn, led to “a righteous path of real sustainability.” “This synergy allows us to optimize and reduce the material and energy consumption and the waste of spare parts,” said Massari.
Sustainability was said to be one of the main drivers at Montrade because working to reduce waste and save energy created what Massari described as a “win-win-win virtuous loop.” The first win was that customers could use Montrade’s equipment to manufacture more high-quality products while spending less, thus increasing their revenues and consumer satisfaction. The second win saw Montrade’s business boosted because its customers were satisfied. And the third win meant that the environment and, consequently, the global community profited from the reduced impact of the tobacco industry.
Massari said that his company’s machines were designed to constantly monitor the consumption of utilities with an eye on reducing usage. The levels of electrical consumption and compressed airflow rates, etc., were always available to view on human-machine interfaces, which was a standard feature not an optional one.
Another issue on which Montrade had been focusing its sustainability efforts concerned the materials used on its machines. The company collaborated closely with its customers and with materials suppliers to rethink the product as more eco-friendly and more fit for the final consumer. Recent examples of this approach could be seen in the company’s machines for producing biodegradable cigarette filters and paper tubes. A unique crimping technology allowed conventional acetate filters to be replaced with paper ones while reducing by about 20 percent the paper consumption typical of other machines available on the market.
As well as offering new filter-making equipment, Montrade also revamps older equipment to produce eco-friendly products. “For instance, we offer our paper crimper in a free-standing configuration to retrofit existing filter makers to convert them to make plastic-free filters,” said Massari. “In the same way, we have also recently developed a wide range of conversion kits for existing packing machines to reduce the wrapping materials and/or replace them with plastic-free ones.”
The Holistic View
Another way of looking at reducing waste is to examine just tobacco waste but over complete operations. Marco Castro, global head of Hauni Advanced Services (formerly Hauni Consulting), said that while the whole tobacco industry was currently working on reducing waste, his division had, in July 2020, set itself the ambitious challenge of approaching this objective in a different way. And, in doing so, it had pioneered a completely original approach, tobacco waste prevention (TWP), by developing an integrated methodology for preventing waste at critical points in green leaf threshing plants (GLTs) and during primary processing and secondary manufacture.
Interestingly, TWP can be applied to all production facilities regardless of the machine base. “Our approach is strictly based on the existing conditions of our customers’ brands,” said Castro in announcing the initiative. “This enables them to prevent waste quickly and successfully, maintaining these gains over the long term.”
TWP is said to offer immediate, measurable improvements, and figures said to have been achieved already in customer projects are impressive: The reduction of waste generation in GLT processes is up to 50 percent, in the primary it’s up to 70 percent and in the secondary up to 60 percent.
“The first step is to quantify the potential for waste prevention at the customer’s site,” said Castro. “This is the basis on which we implement our TWP methodology, which aims to achieve the physical limits for waste prevention for the respective combination of blends, brands and equipment as quickly as possible.”
The approaches adopted as part of TWP are said not only to prevent waste but also to reduce production complexity and technical costs by standardizing blend/brand and equipment combinations where they are relevant to waste.
The starting point for every TWP project is the manufacturer’s own production facility. “This means that we not only strictly consider their specific blends and brands but also implement the TWP specifically for their existing production equipment,” said Castro. “No investments in equipment are necessary to achieve this new, optimized level of waste and costs—at least initially. Of course, on request, we can advise our customers on the potential of machine upgrades or other changes to their equipment while focusing on waste prevention.”
What might well appeal to tobacco manufacturers is that the price of implementing TWP is performance-based, something that Hauni says underlines its belief in its new service. “We are certain that we can deliver the savings we promise our customers after quantifying the waste situation,” said Castro. “That is why payment for this service is performance-based. If we achieve less than we promise, the price is reduced. If the improvement falls below a set level, our clients pay nothing.”
George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.

May 1, 2022
An Elegant Solution

Illustration: Airco Processing Technology
A new technology allows cigarette manufacturers to use CO2 from their steam boilers for tobacco expansion.
By Stefanie Rossel
Besides being an unhealthy choice, cigarettes and their production have a substantial impact on the environment. A study published by Imperial College London in 2018 found that the cultivation and processing of tobacco to make the 6 trillion cigarettes manufactured worldwide in 2014 generated 84 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions—approximately 0.2 percent of the global total. CO2 is the primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities and thus a major contributor to climate change.
Leading cigarette manufacturers have sustainability programs in place to reduce their carbon footprint throughout the supply chain. A new, improved technology developed by Airco DIET’s subsidiary Airco Process Technology (APT) allows them to optimize their production processes further.
Founded in 2020, APT offers solutions for carbon capture and biogas upgrading, thereby benefiting from its parent company’s long-standing experience as a manufacturer of advanced process plants. The Danish company is best known for its Dry Ice Expanded Tobacco (DIET) facilities, of which the company has installed more than one hundred worldwide.
Keld Laigaard
“The diversification with Airco Process Technology makes a lot of sense for Airco DIET as we have worked with large international projects for more than 35 years,” says Keld M. P. Laigaard, sales director at Airco DIET. “And all these projects have involved our DIET plants, which includes working with pressurized and liquid CO2. The Airco employees are all highly skilled in working with CO2 and executing large-scale international projects, and we have been successful in transferring these unique abilities into the new company.”
Generating heat and power is essential for many industrial processes. Primary processing represents about 80 percent of the total energy consumption of cigarette production, leading to a correspondingly high level of emissions. APT’s carbon capture technology enables manufacturing sites to recover and purify the CO2 before it enters the atmosphere.
Capturing CO2 from flue gas (a mixture of gases produced by the burning of fuel or other materials in power stations and industrial plants in which the amount of CO2 is limited) requires a thermal-driven process. Several technologies are currently available; they differ in the amounts of heat required to pick up CO2. APT focuses on solutions that require the lowest possible heat input. Its technologies can be applied to high CO2 concentration sources in which CO2 content exceeds 95 percent, such as biogas, fermentation and certain chemical and petrochemical waste streams. It is also apt for low-concentration sources with a CO2 concentration of more than 3 percent, which includes power stack gas, waste incineration, engines, turbines and similar types of waste streams.

From Buyer to Self-Supplier
“While mostly working outside the tobacco industry, Airco Process Technology also assists Airco DIET’s customers with its technologies,” Laigaard points out. “Our customers are in a unique position as they all have steam boilers that are emitting CO2 while they also use CO2 in the DIET process. APT is now able to provide CO2 capture plants that will extract the CO2 from the boiler exhaust, clean and then liquify the CO2 for usage in the DIET plant.”
At present, most tobacco factories with DIET plants purchase their CO2 from a third-party source while they emit CO2 on the same property. DIET plants usually run 24/7. In the summertime, though, CO2 supply can be scarce, and most manufacturing sites only have CO2 storage tanks that last for two days or three days.
By capturing their own CO2, the factories will become self-reliant and thereby secure the main utility needed in DIET plants. “Being independent becomes more and more important as the world experiences supply chain problems together with a higher global use of CO2 in connection with many of the new green fuels,” states Laigaard. “I’m sure this increased CO2 usage will lead to shortages in various regions.”
In addition, the factory’s carbon footprint will be lowered. The captured CO2 will be made 100 percent food grade and equal to what is presently supplied by high-quality CO2 suppliers, Laigaard says.
APT also upgrades biogas plants to make them operate more efficiently. The company has developed water-based and amine-based biogas technologies that, besides capturing the biogas, convert the biogas not only into natural gas grid specification methane but also into high-value products such as liquid bio methane and bio-CO2. APT has also filed a patent application for a liquefaction pretreatment polisher designed for trace CO2 removal from biomethane, also known as deep CO2 removal.
Europe and the U.S. are the most promising markets for APT, according to Laigaard. “Airco Process Technology has only been online for two years but has already overtaken Airco DIET in size—and it continues to grow at an unprecedented rate.”
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

May 1, 2022
Taking Charge

Photo: medwedja
Regulators, manufacturers and consumers all bear a responsibility to minimize the environmental impact of the batteries used to power electronic nicotine-delivery devices.
By George Gay
A local councilor wrote a letter to me in February that went out to all his constituents, and, since he had taken the trouble to write at a time when elections weren’t due, I felt I should do him the courtesy of replying. So I did. I expounded at length my theories about how, in the face of the current existential environmental crisis, we should do away with all private cars by starting a campaign at the local level. (If you’re ever having trouble sleeping, call me, and I shall go through my ideas with you.)
Abolishing private cars, I pointed out, would cause, for instance, a colossal saving on road maintenance costs, a huge fall in serious road accidents, a dramatic drop in pollution, a life-enhancing saving for the health service, an increase in community cohesion and an astronomical fall in criminality. I also pointed out that switching to electric cars will not save the environment partly because, according to recent research, nanoplastic contamination has been polluting Greenland’s ice cap for at least 50 years, and a quarter of the polluting particles are from vehicle tires.
“I think it’ll be a brave person who tries to ban them [private cars],” replied my councilor, who, as far as I can tell, is an intelligent, well-meaning person. “Inconsiderate parking forms by far the largest part of my email box,” ran his next sentence.
One of my concerns here is that I am going mad. What I seem to be hearing is that you would have to be afraid of public reaction if you tried to ban private cars, even though one negative aspect of the use of such cars is on the uppermost rung of the angry ladder within many people’s minds. Surely, if you harnessed this anger and appealed to people to think about the existential crisis as it pertains to their children and grandchildren, you would have the basis for a campaign.
But I don’t think so. I believe a lot of people are able to function reasonably normally while keeping multiple opposing views in their minds simultaneously. “Yes, I’m worried about the effects of climate change, and I would do anything to prevent harming children, but I wouldn’t give up my polluting car for anything.” Hmm. Have you ever thought about having your head examined, you unbelievably irrational, selfish person?
E-Cigarettes
But perhaps, completely out of character, I’m being unfair. Perhaps such confused thinking is not surprising in a complex world. Where, for instance, should one stand in respect of e-cigarettes and other battery-driven devices aimed at helping smokers switch to less risky products? Sure, there are huge, direct personal health benefits to be reaped by smokers of combustible cigarettes switching to e-cigarettes, but what about the indirect negative effects caused by the careless discarding of e-cigarette batteries, about which this piece is mainly concerned, and other materials? How do these effects, which impinge upon nonusers too, compare with those of discarded cigarette butts? And where do heat-not-burn devices, with their batteries and butts, come into the equation?
What’s the problem, you might ask. Well, from my admittedly less-than-comprehensive internet research, most electronic vapor devices use lithium-ion batteries, which are compact, complex devices designed without disassembly in mind, though various of their elements can be recycled. Simply put, they comprise a cathode, anode, separator and electrolyte. Battery technology is developing all the time, but, currently, they might contain, among other things, copper, aluminum, cobalt, nickel, manganese or rare earth metallic elements. And, of course, lithium. Given that these batteries contain heavy metals and toxic chemicals, disposing of them in landfill sites, where they will eventually leak, gives rise to concerns about soil contamination, water pollution and combustion.
The good news is that these batteries, or parts of them, can be recycled, and, in many countries, there are facilities for such recycling. The bad news is that recycling is not without its problems. It might, for instance, involve chemical or mechanical separation, and/or smelting and, as part of these high-energy processes, give rise to significant electrical, chemical and thermal issues and costs.
Another concern lies in the figures. Some figures suggest that “up to” 90 percent of battery elements can be recycled, which is less than comforting because it could mean anywhere from 0 percent to 90 percent. And, in any case, this speaks only to the percentages of battery materials that can be recycled. Because of technical, economic, logistical, regulatory and other factors, fewer than 5 percent of lithium-ion batteries are currently recycled.
This 5 percent figure refers to all lithium-ion batteries, so, given that car batteries are of the same type, either there will be a big push to make the recycling of such batteries more efficient than it currently is, or we are going to wind up with a mountain of used batteries in landfill sites. Again, from my reading, in the absence of organized, large-scale recycling operations, battery manufacturers will continue to concentrate on lowering the costs of production and increasing battery longevity and charge capacity. Increasing battery longevity provides an advantage, but it should not be allowed to stand in for recycling.
Fortunately, there are commercial and other benefits to recycling, but, as above, they are often canceled out by the perceived downsides. One swing factor is the price of the metals concerned. If the cost of mining them is higher than the cost of recycling them, then recycling is likely to get a look in; otherwise, probably not. That is the logic of the free market. But this is not a simple matter because decisions are influenced by the fact that mines and recycling facilities are capital intensive and take a relatively long time to set up whereas CEO bonuses are determined on the basis of annual reports. Such short-term factors are also likely to cloud the advantage that recycling might prevent future shortages of cobalt and nickel, for instance. And it might encourage battery manufacturers to ignore the fact that metal supply chains often start in a limited number of countries, some of which are not politically stable.
So far, I have written only about vaping devices, but there are different types, and it is perhaps unfortunate that disposables seem to be on the rise. Whereas rechargeable devices will last a while and have easily removable batteries that, in many countries, can be taken to local recycling centers, disposables last a matter of days, have batteries that cannot be removed easily and must be taken in their entirety to specialist e-waste centers where they are available.

While it is reasonable to expect smokers to dispose of cigarette butts responsibly, the dismantling of some vaping devices and the disposal of their constituent parts might be a stretch for the average brain. (Photo: Sergey)
Taking Action
So what are e-cigarette suppliers doing about the environmental impact of their products? Some are required to take seemingly modest action—given the state we are in—under regulations such as the EU’s Directive that sets targets for the collection, recovery and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment in general. Some are trying to do the right thing by providing online advice about how consumers can dispose of vaping device elements so as to ensure as far as possible that these elements are recycled. Some are setting up systems that allow customers to return used devices so that the suppliers arrange for recycling, sometimes in respect of all devices, including those of other suppliers. One Tobacco Reporter report based on a story in the Budapest Business Journal in August said Philip Morris International had inaugurated an e-cigarette recycling center on the outskirts of Budapest capable of recycling 150,000 electronic tobacco devices a month. This was said to have been PMI’s second such facility, the first one having been opened in Japan. But there were no other details, so the story raised more questions than it answered, making it difficult to judge how seriously the recycling issue was being taken.
I must say that I am not filled with confidence. If you look at the history of the tobacco/nicotine industry, we never got on top of the carelessly discarded cigarette butts issue, and now, well into the second decade of vaping devices and past the point of no return in respect of environmental breakdown, there seems to be no plan for a coordinated industry approach to the issue of carelessly discarded vaping devices. Indeed, there seems little interest, let alone a plan. Asked to contribute to this story, BAT, Imperial Brands and Japan Tobacco International each said no thanks. Juul and PMI didn’t reply. Vaping associations in the U.K. and the U.S., while showing initial interest, fell by the wayside.
Of course, the industry is not wholly to blame for the situation we are in. Governments and regulators shoulder some of the responsibility. The cigarette butts problem could have been largely overcome years ago by regulators having the courage to ban cigarette filters. At the same time, it is hardly fair to blame the U.S. vaping device industry for being reluctant to invest heavily in respect of environmental issues when the regulatory framework within which suppliers operate is chaotic. And it has to be said that in banning snus, the tobacco harm reduction product with what must be by far and away the best environmental credentials, the EU has clearly indicated that it would rather indulge in political posturing than environmental protection.
Consumers’ Responsibility
And then, of course, we come to consumers, many of whom seem not to be concerned about carelessly discarding cigarette butts, vaping devices and any other products that they no longer have use for. They, of course, have the power to end most of the environmental problems, but just as they won’t give up their cars, they won’t stop using the streets as giant trash cans. But perhaps I’m being unfair again. While it is reasonable, I think, to expect smokers to dispose of cigarette butts responsibly, the dismantling of some vaping devices and the disposal of their constituent parts might be a stretch for the average brain.
What the industry needs to be wary of is the fact that no matter what consumers do, the industry will get the blame for environmental problems caused by its products. Those people who are opposed to vaping will use environmental issues to undermine these products, no matter how many lives they might save. The Truth Initiative, for instance, says that e-cigarette manufacturers are failing to provide consumers with guidance or take responsibility for appropriate disposal methods, presumably trying to justify why, according to the initiative, “[o]nly 15 percent of young e-cigarette users reported disposing of empty pods or disposable vapes by dropping them off or sending them for electronic recycling.” And it compares e-cigarettes unfavorably with cigarettes when it comes to environmental issues. “E-cigarette waste is potentially a more serious environmental threat than cigarette butts since e-cigarettes introduce plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals, lead, mercury and flammable lithium-ion batteries into waterways, soil and to wildlife,” the Truth Initiative says. “Unlike cigarette butts, e-cigarette waste won’t biodegrade even under severe conditions. E-cigarettes left on the street eventually break down into microplastics and chemicals that flow into the storm drains to pollute our waterways and wildlife.”
That is worrying. So perhaps it is time for the industry to concentrate on producing products that break down almost harmlessly if discarded in the street. Would such a product be possible? Certainly, it would have to be one without a battery and would therefore produce a different consumer experience. So the question arises as to whether consumers would be willing to have what is perhaps a less satisfying experience in the knowledge that they were making a positive contribution to the environment.
I doubt it. But there is another way, and given that we are in such an environmental mess, it should not be ruled out. We could go in reverse. While leaving on sale filterless cigarettes, pipe tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco, cigars, snuff and snus, regulators could ban filtered cigarettes, roll-your-own filters and electronic vaping devices. At the same time, the door could be left open for manufacturers to come up with new, less risky tobacco/nicotine products that were not hugely damaging to the environment.
George Gay is Tobacco Reporter’s European editor, but his territory spans the globe. Based in London, George has covered the tobacco industry since 1982, initially for a U.K.-based publication and since 2004 for Tobacco Reporter. George’s understanding of industry issues, combined with his keen sense of observation and dry wit, have earned him a loyal following among Tobacco Reporter’s readers.

May 1, 2022
Sailing to Zero

Photo: BAT
BAT wants to become carbon neutral across its value chain by 2050.
By Stefanie Rossel
For the environment, tobacco production is a damaging business. In 2014, global cigarette manufacturing was responsible for 84 million tons, or 0.2 percent, of the world’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, according to a study by Imperial College. Eager to minimize their impact, tobacco companies have been working hard to reduce their carbon footprint.
BAT, for one, aims for carbon neutral operations by 2030 and a “net-zero” value chain by 2050. The company signed up for the United Nations-backed Race to Zero global campaign, an initiative to halve global emissions by 2030 and achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. As part of this, BAT has committed itself to realigning its existing carbon neutral targets, which were previously based on the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit the global average temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, to match the new consensus that the temperature rise should be limited 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid severe climate change effects on people, wildlife and ecosystems.
In 2020, BAT’s emissions totaled to 6.11 million tons of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), according to the company’s ESG Report 2021. The company’s own operations, however, contributed a mere 9 percent of its total 2020 emissions footprint. The remainder were “Scope 3” emissions—indirect emissions from resources that the organization does not own.
Seventy-six percent of Scope 3 emissions came from the company’s upstream value chain, including 32 percent from tobacco growing (fertilizers, curing barns, farm machinery, etc.) and 22 percent from materials. Another 15 percent emerged from BAT’s downstream value chain, 10 percent of which were produced by the use of sold products and 5 percent by their end-of-life treatment.
BAT is tackling the emissions of both its own operations and its wider value chain. To decarbonize its operations, the company continues to expand its renewable energy sourcing. Across its manufacturing sites, it is identifying opportunities to reduce CO2e emissions through decarbonization assessments and value stream mapping. Internal carbon pricing has been incorporated into the company’s business plans since 2021 to ensure that the impact on environmental performance and targets is formally considered and quantified.
A Cure for Curing
By generating solar power on-site and purchasing green electricity, BAT aims to expand its number of carbon neutral sites. Of BAT’s 75 manufacturing facilities, 32 were sourcing 100 percent renewable electricity by the end of last year while 19 sites were producing renewable energy on the spot. Combined, the company says, these measures have reduced CO2 emissions to 42.7 percent of CO2e from its 2017 baseline. Renewable sources currently account for 28.6 percent of BAT’s total energy consumption. The company aims to achieve 100 percent by 2030.
Reducing emissions in its tobacco supply chain, where about a third of BAT’s Scope 3 carbon emissions are generated, is a tougher nut to crack. Most of these emissions come from tobacco curing. Although more than 80 percent of BAT’s annual leaf volumes are cured using renewable fuels, sustainable wood, biomass or sun curing, the problem of emissions persists.
The company sources approximately 61 percent of its tobacco leaf from its own operations in 18 countries, which contract directly with more than 75,000 farmers. The company’s remaining leaf comes from third-party suppliers in 26 countries that contract with over 264,000 farmers.
In several countries, BAT has introduced fuel-efficient curing technologies, among them new types of curing barns that enable at least a 30 percent reduction in fuel use and a 14 percent reduction in electricity use. For the tobacco volumes it purchases, the company aims to eliminate the use of coal as a curing fuel. Coal-cured leaf presently accounts for 10 percent of the tobacco that BAT sources through third-party suppliers.
To further determine the best combination of curing technologies and fuel types for reducing emissions, the company started trials in six countries in 2021. Its global leaf agronomy center in Brazil is identifying startups to help develop new technologies and practices that support carbon-smart farming.
Planting trees and cover crops and practicing conservation tillage not only keep the soil covered and store carbon but they may also increase water retention capacity, improving drainage and making the soil more fertile, which in turn will lead to increased yields and better quality crops. BAT is currently working with a specialist consultancy to validate its approach and verify the results. The company started testing its carbon-smart farming program with 35 farmers in Brazil last year and intends to expand the pilot to Bangladesh, Mexico and Pakistan in 2022.
Making Products More Sustainable
Product materials account for around 59 percent of BAT’s Scope 3 emissions, 15 percent of which are generated by the company’s 30 largest direct suppliers across more than 100 sites. An assessment showed that most suppliers were only in the early stages of decarbonization. To enable suppliers to align with its net zero target, BAT provides support and technical assistance and continues to track progress.
To include end products in its sustainability ambitions, BAT has implemented a company-wide circular economy. Through life-cycle analysis across its product categories, the company has identified key areas that can contribute to reducing Scope 3 emissions, including the optimization of product design and shipping goods by sea instead of air where possible. Underlining its environmental commitment, BAT in 2021 announced that its Vuse e-cigarette had become the first global carbon neutral vape brand.
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.

May 1, 2022
Pyxus’ ESG Journey

Photo: Pyxus International
Advancing progress on key global issues
By Pieter Sikkel
It is hard to believe that our company will soon celebrate its sesquicentennial. To say that our business, the tobacco industry and the world in which we live and work has changed over the course of 150 years would be an understatement. In fact, if we were to solely reflect on the events of just the past few years—from uncertainties generated by a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, the growing social divide and heightened geopolitical risk to the rapid escalation of climate change—there is no shortness of evolution.
These global events have led companies and their stakeholders to take a step back and ask, “How are the decisions of today impacting the world of tomorrow?” This sentiment is the driving force behind what we now refer to as ESG—environmental, social and governance: the three key areas used to measure a business’ ethical impact and approach to sustainability.
Pyxus is uniquely positioned to have a positive impact on key global issues, including climate change, farmer prosperity and human rights, and we have been incorporating sustainable practices into our operations for as long as I can remember. For example, in 1991, we launched the first of our now global reforestation initiatives, helping the forests where we operate to become more resilient in the years to come, and in 2012, we introduced our Agricultural Labor Practices program, setting on-the-farm standards that our contracted farmers must adhere to. We are quite proud of our efforts, but we recognized that the process behind them needed to be enhanced in order to advance progress on key global issues. That is why, in December of 2021, we introduced our ESG framework, providing the connection between our company’s business priorities and our purpose—to transform people’s lives so that together we can grow a better world.
Pyxus’ ESG framework takes the company’s three sustainability pillars—minimizing environmental impact; support for people and communities; and ethical and responsible business—a step further, identifying relevant focus areas and measurable goals to drive positive change and create long-lasting impacts. For example, one of our 12 focus areas is sustainable agricultural methods and practices. Within that focus area, we have set a goal of zero net global deforestation by 2030 in order to help grow a greener future. To date, our business has planted over 250 million trees worldwide as we work toward achieving our long-term goal.
In order to best position us for success, our ESG framework is supported by a robust governance and implementation structure, which we have based on an annual cycle of continuous improvement. This allows our business to identify and overcome challenges as they arise, prioritize local-level initiatives and leverage the leadership and skill sets of our employee base while holding us accountable for year-over-year progress.
Additionally, we have aligned our approach with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a call to action to address global challenges. There is increasing evidence that businesses that operate sustainably and in support of the United Nations SDGs—while reporting transparently about their progress—can deliver stronger growth and returns for all stakeholders. With this in mind, we publicly shared our company’s CDP scores, which are determined by data reported as part of the global nonprofit’s annual environmental disclosure process. We will also publish our first Global Reporting Initiative sustainability report later this year.
Moving forward, our company, the tobacco industry and the world in which we live and work will undoubtedly continue to change, and what tomorrow looks like will be defined by the decisions we make today. Companies, regardless of industry or size, have the opportunity to incorporate ESG into their business operations in order to address global issues and shift the paradigm. We encourage our tobacco industry partners to join us in integrating sustainable, measurable solutions so that together we can grow a better world.
Pyxus’ ESG strategy includes three key pillars underscored by the company’s purpose of transforming people’s lives to grow a better world:
Environment: to implement sustainable solutions that further improve the company’s environmental performance and reduce the environmental footprint of the company and its supply chain;
Social: to support the company’s employees, contracted farmers and the communities where it operates, protecting human rights and providing an equal opportunity for success to all; and
Governance: to operate responsibly and ethically in every action that the company takes.
Pieter Sikkel is the president and CEO of Pyxus International.

May 1, 2022