Category: Sustainability

  • Greenbutts and Boegli Partner in Filters

    Greenbutts and Boegli Partner in Filters

    Image: Greenbutts

    Greenbutts and Boegli Gravures have jointly developed a new technology to manufacture biodegradable filters.

    Trademarked as Greenbossing, the innovation enhances and tailors existing filtration capabilities along with the sensorial experience, according to the companies.

    Greenbutts’ fully patented biodegradable filters deliver the sensorial experience of traditional cigarette filters without the plastic waste.

    “For decades, our company has placed itself on the cutting edge of new technological solutions in the field of macro, micro and nano embossing solutions called ‘Vividus,’ ‘Midas’ and ‘Iris,’” said Boegli Gravures CEO and chairman Charles Boegli in a statement. “We are very proud to partner with Greenbutts to join our competences and address the huge ecological needs arising in the field of filter manufacturing, to which Greenbossing will be the answer.”

    “Our organization has cultivated a strong partnership with the world-renowned embossing technology company Boegli and is pleased to announce the patent filing of our joint technology,” said Luis Sanches, chief strategy officer of Greenbutts. “This new IP will revolutionize the process of Greenbutts’ filter rod manufacturing. Greenbossing is a truly innovative feature, which will strengthen our position by introducing the next generation of biodegradable filters for the tobacco industry.”

    “We are very proud to have Boegli Gravures as a solid and reliable partner,” said Greenbutts CEO Tadas Lisauskas. “The embossing technology that we jointly developed is nothing short of revolutionary, and we look forward to introducing even further technological advances in the coming months. As the cigarette industry is faced with transformative changes, driven by single-use plastic legislation and stronger commitments to their environmental agendas, we will ensure that Greenbutts continues to offer industry-leading innovations to maintain our leadership status in assisting with this transition.”

  • Greenbutts’ Filter Certified

    Greenbutts’ Filter Certified

    Greenbutts has received the Hohenstein Quality Label for a novel biodegradable filter technology designed to replace the most littered single-use plastic item—cigarette filters. 

    “Receiving this certification of biodegradability from Hohenstein is validation of all the hard work over the past decade to develop and optimize our Greenbutts filter technology to be a truly eco-friendly replacement for cellulose acetate,” said Greenbutts CEO Tadas Lisauskas in a statement.

    “We are excited to offer this certified material to a variety of filtration media products in the near future to help eradicate single-use synthetics used in the filtration industry.”

    “We have put our best minds toward delivering a transformative solution for the global tobacco industry,” said Greenbutts Chief Strategy Officer Luis Sanches. “Our world demands high corporate responsibility coupled with measurable impact, and no matter where our customers may be, we all can do our part.”

    Using patented material science, Greenbutts filters are biodegradable, plastic-free and water dispersing. According to the company, Greenbutts filters will disperse in water within a few minutes and will degrade in compost within days as opposed to 10–15 years as is the case with traditional cellulose acetate filters.

  • Greenbutts to Attend COP27

    Greenbutts to Attend COP27

    Luis Sanches (Photo: Greenbutts)

    Greenbutts will be joining the official Canadian delegation at COP27, the United Nations Climate Change Conference of 2022.

    The company will bring attention to the issue of plastic pollution caused by cigarette filters and highlight its ability to assist in the transition away from cellulose acetate filters used in the global tobacco industry, a problem the U.N. describes as “the most discarded waste item worldwide.”

    “We are honored to be invited to participate in COP27 as part of the official Canadian delegation, where we intend to shed meaningful light on the global crisis of single-use plastic cigarette filters and offer an impactful solution,” said Luis Sanches, chief strategy officer of Greenbutts, in a statement.

    “Greenbutts is in a unique position to deliver a sustainable innovation that can drastically decrease the amount of harmful plastic that is discarded every day and ends up in our oceans. Our IP and technology have advanced greatly, and we believe that we can now offer this solution to the global tobacco industry for mass implementation, effectively ending the reliance on single-use plastic filters,” said Tadas Lisauskas, CEO of Greenbutts.

    Since 2010, Greenbutts has worked with R&D institutions, tobacco companies and industry experts to develop biodegradable filter technology. The company has developed and patented a “zero-plastic” filter that is 100 percent biodegradable and water dispersing.

    This year’s COP will take place in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, Nov. 6–18.

  • BAT Publishes Low-Carbon Transition Plan

    BAT Publishes Low-Carbon Transition Plan

    Photo: BAT

    BAT has published its Low-Carbon Transition Plan, detailing the actions it will take to reach its climate targets. This includes halving absolute emissions across its value chain by 2030, from a 2020 baseline, and to be net-zero across its value chain by 2050 at the latest.

    “We’re proud to take this latest step in our sustainability journey,” said Kingsley Wheaton, BAT’s chief growth officer, in a statement. “By outlining the measures we will take to live up to our net-zero targets through our Low-Carbon Transition Plan, we’re demonstrating our continuing commitment to building ‘A Better Tomorrow.’ As a global company, we know minimizing impacts across our value chain is the right thing to do, as well as making sound business sense. That is why we have set stretching science-based climate-related targets and continue to embed sustainability across our business.”

    BAT has committed to reduce absolute Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by 2030 from a 2020 base year.

    According to the CDP, tackling Scope 3 emissions, which are indirect emissions from BAT’s value chain, will be the most critical and challenging for the sector, and it constitutes the majority of BAT’s total carbon footprint.

    For these Scope 3 emissions, BAT has committed to reduce emissions by 50 percent by 2030 from a 2020 base year by: partnering with suppliers, especially those contributing the most emissions, to ensure sustainability progress; progressively transitioning from air to sea freight as a lower carbon mode of transport on the occasions that products go by air; collaborating with farmers on carbon-smart tobacco leaf farming and other projects; and fostering circularity throughout R&D, designing for end-of-life processes and promoting eco-design principles.

  • Startup Uses Tobacco to Cultivate Meat

    Startup Uses Tobacco to Cultivate Meat

    Photo: Victor Moussa

    An Israeli food technology startup company is using tobacco plants to help it create vegetarian hamburgers, reports The Jerusalem Post.

    BioBetter has deployed tobacco plants as natural bioreactors to create the growth factors necessary for the cellular development of cultivated meat.

    According to the firm, this development could significantly reduce the cost of cultured meat and help rapidly advance its commercialization. Cultured meat could eventually replace beef cows, which are a major factor in producing greenhouse gases and promoting hazardous global warming.

    “World population growth and dwindling natural resources are going to put incredible strain on meat supply and the already fragile environment in the coming decades,” said BioBetter CEO Amit Yaari. “Cultivated meat offers a promising solution to these problems and can ensure a more resilient supply chain with better economic and environmental returns.”

    In addition to addressing environmental challenges, the work will also create a new source of income for local tobacco farmers, who have suffered losses as cigarette consumption dwindles.

    Boosted by a fresh injection of venture capital, BioBetter plans to scale up production in 2023 and commercialize its tobacco plant-derived, food-grade growth factor portfolio by 2024.

  • Report Details Vapor Recycling Programs

    Report Details Vapor Recycling Programs

    Photo: alexlmx

    Research and Markets has published a global overview of recycling programs for e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and vaporizers.

    Every year, manufacturers and consumers generate 44.7 million tons of e-waste containing up to $65 billion worth of raw materials like gold, silver and platinum. The amount of global e-waste is expected to increase by almost 17 percent to 52.2 million tons in 2021, or around 8 percent every year.

    Vape products are e-waste because they contain lithium-ion batteries, a heating element and a circuit board, which can contain plastics and heavy metals.

    While the world’s leading jurisdictions have legislation governing the management of e-waste in general, they generally have no rules designed specifically for  e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products or  vaporizers.

    To fill the void, manufacturers of electronic nicotine delivery devices have developed their own initiatives to tackle e-waste. The Research and Markets report list the following examples:

    • Philip Morris International has established hubs in Europe and Asia that inspect, process and separate materials from electronic devices for recycling.
    • BAT has replaced plastic elements of vapor products with pulp-based alternatives.
    • JTI launched a return scheme of used devices through the recycling boxes at shops.
    • Imperial Brands has launched take-back recycling schemes for used vaping devices and pods.
    • Other vape companies, such as DotMod, Shanlaan and Dovpo, have launched their own recycling programs by return schemes. Innokin is working on battery utilization programs. Recycling companies, such as Gaiaca and TerraCycle cooperate with vape manufacturers to provide services for collecting and recycling e-waste.
    • The Bowman company offers pod refill stations to reduce plastic usage for vapor bottles production in future.
  • Generational Change

    Generational Change

    Photo: Universal

    Human rights and the environment are at the core of Universal’s social and sustainability goals.

    By Timothy S. Donahue

    There are numerous moving pieces in the sustainability puzzle. Many global enterprises now see environment, social and governance (ESG) programs and sustainability issues as urgent business matters. Strong corporations realize that managing ESG programs effectively enables the company to build trust and long-term value in an ever-changing business environment.

    According to experts, sustainability, as a part of a company’s ESG standards, must be a corporate strategy and is critical for a business to stay competitive.

    Being an agricultural company, Universal Corp., the world’s largest supplier of leaf tobacco, must be ultra-aware of the impacts of environmental issues such as climate change and the social supply chain risks that it encounters. Universal understands the need to adapt to survive. It has been a lesson learned throughout the company’s long history.

    Founded in the late 1800s, Universal incorporated in 1918 and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1927. The company has survived the stock market crash of 1929, two world wars and two pandemics.

    Early on, Universal’s environmental programs were traditionally focused on reducing carbon dioxide emissions centered around efficiency and cost savings. Today, those early efforts have evolved into a variety of policies and practices that are designed to enhance the resilience of Universal’s infrastructure and its supply chains.

    This is now referred to as ESG, the corporate governance and investment framework. Sustainability is the relationship between a company and the environment. ESG encompasses a set of standards for Universal’s socially conscious investors to screen potential investments, including sustainability.

    According to Airton Hentschke, senior vice president and chief operating officer for Universal, the company considers a science-based and evidence-based approach to its sustainability practices. Universal is concerned about climate change and how it will impact its footprint in the future.

    “We have set emissions targets that were approved by the Science-Based Target Initiative, and we are in the process of formalizing our approach to reduce emissions. We are looking into the future for pathways to net-zero emissions,” he explains. “Engagement throughout the supply chain has made the most impact in reducing emissions. Engagement allows us to align expectations from our customers through to our farmers and supply chain partners.”

    Hentschke says that the evidence is clear that Universal must contribute to emission reductions to build sustainability and support a thriving planet. “Universal relies on the communities we operate within and attempts to address the root causes of social and environmental issues in these communities,” says Hentschke. “We believe in being a responsible and sustainable corporate citizen and will continue to implement practices with the intention of benefitting our diverse global stakeholders.”

    Challenges lie ahead. Universal operates throughout the world and impacts thousands of people every day. The company operates in more than 30 countries, employing a multicultural and multinational workforce. Universal’s global operations face unique challenges in each of their operating environments related to local social dynamics and traditions, according to Karen Hall, director of sustainability at Universal. She says that ESG is a collection of numerous programs, such as Universal’s corporate human rights policy, which extends equitable expectations to all its operations and to its suppliers.

    “We support our local teams so that they can focus on their communities and supply chain and address risks and opportunities as they arise. One example is in Brazil where we needed a larger workforce than the adjacent community could fulfill, so we contracted buses to bring workers from rural regions to our operation,” Hall explains. “A risk and opportunity were addressed here. The risk was a labor shortage, and the opportunity was to engage and employ a rural workforce that would not have had access to these jobs without our support.”

    Facing the Issues

    Experience makes a difference. The Universal team is skilled at identifying risks and opportunities in communities where it contracts tobacco. Its farmers are the most important segment of Universal’s supply chain operations. Universal is involved in the Sustainable Tobacco Program (STP), an industry-wide initiative jointly developed by tobacco manufacturers and experts to assure standards in agricultural practices as well as environmental management and key social and human rights matters.

    In 2020, the STP made changes to better address eight core issues: governance, crop, climate change, human and labor rights, livelihoods, natural habitat, soil health and water.

    Universal has been supportive of the STP from the program’s inception. Lea Scott, vice president of agronomy for Universal, said the STP provides an alignment across the tobacco industry under a cohesive set of standards and best practices.

    “It’s positive for all stakeholders from investors to smallholder farmers. The new program has several strengths, including aligning common goals and focusing on continuous improvement,” says Scott. “With any new program, we are working through implementation with the aim of continued improvement and transparency.”

    Prior to 2020, Universal took a risk-based approach to addressing issues in its operations and supply chain. The company would implement programs that addressed mainly key risks in particular regions. Its Agricultural Labor Practices (ALP) program, for example, sets global expectations, such as no child labor, fair worker renumeration and no forced labor in the tobacco supply chain.

    “In regions where a specific risk has been identified by our farmer monitoring, we tailor programs to address these risks. In the United States and Europe, for instance, we have worker interview programs to engage farm workers and monitor their treatment while in other regions we have child labor programs that focus on removing identified root causes of child labor,” says Scott. “The new STP in 2020, along with ALP, better highlights Universal’s efforts and the commitment we put into addressing the identified risks. It has also reinforced the unity and commitment within the industry to addressing human rights violations in the tobacco supply chain.”

    Child labor is a major concern for Universal. Seventy percent of child labor is estimated to occur in agriculture, mainly taking place in family subsistence and commercial farming. While there have been significant advances made in tackling child labor, in recent years the progress has slowed and has been uneven across regions. According to the United Nations, the number of children in child labor has declined by an estimated 19 million since 2000.

    Universal is committed to an industry that works in unity and alignment on human rights issues, including child labor, according to Hentschke. Universal, along with other major transnational tobacco companies, has been involved with the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco-Growing Foundation (ECLT), a Swiss-based nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating child labor since its inception in 2000.

    The ECLT focuses on regions where child labor is at higher risk for occurrence and where local stakeholders are willing to engage in programs, explained Hall. The ECLT functions as a link between industry and local stakeholders like government and nongovernmental organizations so that programs are designed in sustainable and impactful ways.

    “Universal believes that children should grow and have access to educational opportunities that are not impacted by labor requirements at home,” says Hall. “While technology has been beneficial in understanding the extent of child labor, understanding root causes does more to benefit children and reduce the risk. When we understand why children work at a young age in various regions, we can address the underlying cause. For example, in Africa, we found that mothers and children in some areas had to walk a long distance for access to clean water.

    “Based on a geographic information system analysis of existing boreholes and water access, we drilled and repaired boreholes to increase water accessibility. Technology helped reduce the risk of child labor, but the root cause needed to be identified for the appropriate technology to be implemented.”

    Being Transparent

    Universal has a variety of projects all over the world that reinforce its commitments to environmental, social and financial sustainability. Hall says programs and projects are most effective when they engage a variety of stakeholders and address motivators of an identified risk or issue.

    “Effective programs not only mitigate the issue but also educate, have strong community participation and contribution and are the basis of sustainable change and improvement,” she says. “Programs with these characteristics have the potential to result in real cultural change.”

    Another example of Universal’s unique commitments is its Village Savings and Loan (VSLA) project in Malawi. In this program, Universal subsidiary Limbe Leaf Tobacco Company works with an NGO to bring financial literacy to the region’s growing areas. The program focuses on teaching women how to manage money and how to invest. The VSLA addresses several social issues, including women’s empowerment, child labor and farm livelihood.

    Words mean little in sustainability and other ESG goals. Without openness in failures and successes, the impact of any efforts is greatly reduced. Hall says that the key to managing ESG issues effectively is transparency. Universal uses the services of an outside law firm to conduct an independent benchmark assessment of its various compliance policies.

    Scott adds that Universal’s operational and supply chain practices are routinely assessed, and its global operations work together to provide the data and resources used by third-party groups and stakeholders to verify the company’s practices. STP has also been a great resource to highlight the adequacy of Universal’s programs.

    “While the tobacco industry continues to effectively work together, we are increasingly utilizing third-party assessments. For example, we are engaging NGOs to conduct Human Rights Impact Assessments to support our social programs,” Scott says. “We will utilize the results from these assessments to refine our programs and further improve our local actions as well as share this feedback with other regions in our supply chain.”

    Hall says that, internally, Universal believes its ESG and sustainability goals are aligned with global best practices and meet stakeholder expectations; however, the company is always looking forward. She said that preparing for the unexpected is a necessity to ensure that in 2050, the goals that Universal is creating now will come to fruition.

    “It might be costly now, but what’s the cost really going to be like in the future? And how much do we invest in people right now and [in] social programs right now?” Hall asks. “But how far will that investment take us if we don’t also do what we need to as an industry to reduce our climate impacts?”

    Universal will continue to adapt to changing expectations and conditions. It is difficult to predict what will change, but if the current climate situation does not improve, Hall says the world will continue to see increasing changes to global weather patterns. Universal intends to be mindful of these changes and will use data and resources to adjust its operational programs and practices as needed.

    Hall adds that the company will also build resilience through continued variety in development, agricultural practices and communications with Universal’s grower base. Farmers, Hall says, are the most important link in Universal’s supply chain, and the environment is the major concern for them.

    “We will need to monitor the environmental and social situations in our supply chain and continue to have diverse global sourcing to mitigate any future unforeseen issues that may arise. We will take the lessons learned from the past century—especially the last decade—and apply them to the future,” says Hall. “No supply chain will be perfect, but Universal intends to have programs and practices in place that help us manage and mitigate risk to the benefit of our all of our stakeholders and global customers.”

    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.
  • Making a Splash

    Making a Splash

    Photo: NewCo

    A small water filter and a biodegradable sample bag may help reduce the environmental impact of tobacco production.

    By George Gay

    The U.N. Biodiversity Conference is due, Dec. 5–17, in Montreal, Canada, to convene governments from around the world to agree to a new set of goals for nature, according to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biodiversity. That is the good news, I guess. The bad news is that, in a note posted June 21 on the U.N. Environment Program website, the secretariat said that despite ongoing efforts, biodiversity was deteriorating worldwide and that this decline was projected to worsen with “business-as-usual scenarios.”

    One of the concerns I have is that we seem to be piling one existential crisis on top of another. A decline in biodiversity feeds climate change and environmental damage, and climate change and environmental damage feed a decline in biodiversity. And because of this seemingly catastrophic loop, I find it’s easy to become overwhelmed by a feeling of helplessness. But there is another way of looking at things. Firstly, we can admit that we are faced with an existential crisis, and secondly, we can respond positively in any and every way possible. And, luckily, there are some seemingly modest interventions that step out of the shadow of business as usual and punch above their weight.

    The idea that, in attempting to tackle the environmental crisis, we needed to look beyond the obvious, major interventions was suggested to me recently by Rainer Busch, the managing director of the tobacco dealer NewCo, in response to something I had written about deforestation being caused by tobacco farmers using wood fuel for curing tobacco. While accepting that such deforestation was a problem, he pointed out that a bigger problem was caused by the need for farmers and their families—along with many other people in less developed countries—to burn wood for other reasons, including the need to boil otherwise nonpotable water.

    Starting Small

    Fortunately, this domestic problem, while bigger, is potentially easier to address and is starting to be addressed in a modest way through a newly incorporated company, NewCo Pro, which was set up to focus on business opportunities that embrace positive socioeconomic initiatives outside the tobacco industry, though mostly connected with it. And one of NewCo Pro’s first initiatives has seen it partner with Sydney 905, a South Africa-based company that offers water filters.

    Jose Maria Costa, the senior executive advisor at NewCo Pro, who first came across these filters, is passionate about their potential to improve the lot of people who do not have easy access to potable water. Costa, who has lived in and visited many less developed countries, told me that, notwithstanding his experience, he was horrified when he started to investigate how, in the 21st century, millions of people lived without ready access to acceptable water. It seemed impossible that so many people still lived in this way, he said.

    There are a lot of water filters on the market, but Costa reckons the Sydney 905, for which NewCo Pro is the worldwide sales agent, is ideal. And it is hard to disagree. This is a robust, easy-to-use, versatile unit that is small enough to be carried in a largish pocket but with capacity enough to serve a family. It is mainly intended to be fitted to the outlet tap of a container of collected river, well or rainwater, and, using a simple gravity feed, turn about 30–35 liters of murky-looking contaminated water crystal-clear and safe each hour while retaining naturally occurring, safe minerals. But it can also be used to process mains water, where such is available, or it can be attached to a plastic bottle of water taken from a river, in which case the drinker supplies the necessary pressure simply by squeezing the bottle. It uses neither chemicals nor batteries.

    As well as the Sydney 905 Filter, which uses a 0.1 micron hollow-fiber membrane that Costa expects to attract most interest, there is the Sydney 905 Purifier, which uses a 0.01 micron membrane and is therefore suitable only where mains pressure is available. The exact specifications of the two units are fully explained at www.newco-pro.com, which also provides the results of water purity tests undertaken by various official certification bodies along with some informative and entertaining videos.

    Return on Investment

    One of the most compelling things about the Sydney 905 filter has to be its value. While, at about $40 a unit, it would not be cheap for a financially impoverished family, there is no need to change the filter, so the unit could last for very many years without incurring any maintenance costs as long as it is regularly and conscientiously cleaned using a simple backwashing process. And while the initial outlay is not insubstantial, the payback is rapid and ongoing. One Kenyan farmer who wrote to Costa said that by using the filter, his family of 10 was saving about $60 a month because it no longer had to buy bottled water. Additionally, another savings, in costs and health, was being enjoyed because the farmer and his family were no longer losing work and school days to sickness caused by water pollution.

    It is surely not beyond the bounds of possibility that these filters could be provided free of charge by major companies working closely with tobacco and other farmers or that at least these companies could provide interest-free loans to help such farmers buy them. After all, as Busch pointed out, the use of these filters can help in the fight against deforestation, and as Costa added, most tobacco companies have committed to the U.N.’s Strategic Development Goals, No.6 of which aims to provide everybody with clean water by 2030.

    Things are moving. Costa said that NewCo Pro believed it was close to an agreement to start production of the filters in India, for the Indian market, and that the company had been in contact with large nongovernmental organizations, local governments and tobacco companies around the world. But progress is not what it should be, given the personal and population-wide problems caused by the lack of potable water and given that the Sydney 905 solution to the problem seems so simple but powerful. Achieving goal No.6 is going to require all hands to the pump and a willingness to step out of the shadow of business as usual since, according to the NewCo Pro website, in 2022, 844 million people lack basic water services, 2.2 billion people lack safely managed drinking water, and 3.5 million people die each year from causes linked to unsafe water.

    Biodegradable Bags

    Meanwhile, there is a certain irony in NewCo Pro promoting the distribution of these filters because they are made of plastic, and another NewCo project is aimed at reducing the use of plastics. But there is a clear difference here. The filter units are meant to last many years whereas the plastic NewCo is trying to eliminate is single use, such as that used for wrapping leaf tobacco samples.

    Busch has been working on this project for about three or four years now, since before the formation of NewCo Pro. He started by replacing the plastic sample bags with reusable cotton bags, but while these were popular with customers up to a point, they had the disadvantages that they weren’t transparent and that they weren’t as good as plastic at retaining moisture.

    What NewCo Pro is now offering is a transparent bag made from potato starch. These EU-certified and Germany-certified food grade bags are 100 percent biodegradable so that while, theoretically, they have an unlimited life under normal circumstances, they break down into compost that can be used as fertilizer within 90 days to 150 days of their coming into contact with an environment open to the elements. Busch said that farmers in Italy and Spain are already using seedbeds made from the product, which is ideal for such use and better than commercially available fertilizers, a seemingly critical factor at a time of soaring fertilizer prices.

    But there is a catch. While the people on the ground who Costa talks with are enthusiastic about this biodegradable product, the message apparently is not getting back to the people who make the decisions, or those people are stuck in business-as-usual mode and are not making the decision to change from plastic to potato starch. If it is a lack of decision-making, this seems incredibly short-sighted, especially given the huge problems being caused by plastic waste and given that switching to the new type of bags would allow companies to improve the services they offer and be seen to improve those services while incurring only an immaterial increase in costs. There seems to be no reason why companies could not make the switch immediately. After all, if a relatively small leaf dealer such as NewCo can research this matter and make the change, surely others, with the research having been carried out for them, could make the switch also.

    Undaunted, NewCo Pro is already researching the use of potato starch for applications that go beyond sample bags—applications such as replacing the polyliners used for packing certain lots of tobacco for particular customers or replacing the plastic polypots used in the production side of the industry. And it is willing to put companies wishing to follow its lead in touch with the suppliers of such materials. When it comes to plastics, the message from Busch and Costa is “enough is enough.”

    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.
  • RAI Transitioning to Electric/Hybrid Vehicles

    RAI Transitioning to Electric/Hybrid Vehicles

    Photo: unlimit3d

    Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) is transitioning its vehicle fleet to hybrid and electric models. The move will replace aging vehicles on a rolling basis over the next three years, resulting in a projected annual reduction in carbon emissions of more than 1,000 tons.

    “Our sales and trade marketing representatives average nearly 27,000 miles a year in their territories across the 50 states—that’s a lot of time on the road,” said Ed Mirana, senior vice president of national sales and strategic accounts at RAI, in a statement. “With this move to hybrid vehicles, our sales and operations teams are driving progress on our sustainability ambitions.”

    RAI is collaborating with Ford Pro to transition its current fleet to a mix of vehicle models, including the Escape SEL Hybrid, Explorer Limited Hybrid, Ford E-Transit and Ford-150 Lightning.

    Included in the fleet of more than 1,800 vehicles are nearly 50 light-duty operations vehicles used across RAI’s North Carolina and Tennessee facilities, which will be transitioned to a combination of hybrid and electric models as part of this initiative.

    “We continue to push for new ways to reduce our use of resources and environmental impact. We have a bold global ambition for carbon neutral operations by 2030, and reducing carbon emissions in our fleet is an important step on this journey. In addition, by 2024, more than 95 percent of all industrial vehicles used in operations will be electric,” said Bernd Meyer, executive vice president of operations at RAI. “With these significant changes and investments over the next few years, we are currently on track to meet a fleet carbon emission reduction of 50 percent by 2025.”

    In 2022, approximately 650 hybrid and electric vehicles will replace internal combustible engine vehicles organization-wide.

    RAI joins BAT Group’s growing list of markets across the globe, including Australia, Colombia, Germany, Mexico and the Netherlands, where trade and operations fleet transitions to hybrid and electric vehicles are well underway.

  • Patent for Biodegradable Filter

    Patent for Biodegradable Filter

    Image: Greenbutts

    Greenbutts has received a Canadian patent for its biodegradable filter tow technology.

    The patent adds to Greenbutts’ proprietary technology stack, offering an all-natural, biodegradable and water dispersing cigarette filter. Previously, Greenbutts obtained patent recognition in the United Kingdom and the United States.

    “Greenbutts’ mission started 12 years ago, at a time when the phrase ‘single-use plastic’ was not used as often as it is today,” said Greenbutts CEO Tadas Lisauskas in a statement. “Our dedication through extensive R&D with our world-class scientific team is now being recognized on a global scale as governments, industry and consumers are all in alignment with a green, clean future.”

    According to Lisauskas, Greenbutts’ biodegradable cigarette filter is compatible not only with traditional combustible smoking products but also with heat-not-burn products. In August 2021, Greenbutts signed an agreement to supply its biodegradable filters to Poda Lifestyle and Wellness.  

    “This patent has strategic importance to our organization as it comes in full alignment with the Canadian government’s decision to ban the manufacture and importation of harmful single-use plastics, a historic move for North America,” he said. “Our technology is a viable and sustainable alternative to cellulose acetate filters while maintaining the sensory experience, delivering the high-performance filtration capability of a traditional filter.”

    “The granting of this new IP by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office is another demonstration that the company is advancing in becoming the most strategic partner to catalyze the tobacco industry to, once and for all, migrate from single-use plastic to a planet friendly, consumer-aligned and government-supported solution,” said Greenbutts’ chief strategy officer, Luis Sanches.