TOBACCO AND
THE ENVIRONMENT

Tobacco use is not only a healthissue — it is also an environmental issue.

4,211,962 cigarette butts werecollected in beaches and waterways
globally in 2019, making them theworld’s second most common typeof litter after food wrappers.

30%-40%
Cigarette butts
comprise30%-40% of items
collected in annual
coastal/urban
cleanups.

4,211,962

815,985

POUNDS

600M

Approximately 600 million trees arechopped down every year by the
tobacco industry. On average eachtree produces enough paper for 15
packs of cigarettes.

815,985 pounds of toxic
chemicals were released from
U.S. tobacco facilities in 2019.

2.7M
TONS

In 2018, Americans generated 2.7 million tons of consumer
electronic waste, including e-cigarette waste, that
ultimately ends up in landfills or incinerators.

1

TOBACCO AND
THE ENVIRONMENT
Tobacco doesn’t just negatively impact the healthof individuals, it also endangers the health of theenvironment.1 When e-cigarette and cigarette
waste isn’t disposed of properly, it makes its way
into the environment where it ends up polluting
water, air, and land with toxic chemicals, heavy
metals and residual nicotine. An estimated766,571 metric tons of cigarette butts maketheir way into the environment every year.2
Additionally, in 2018, Americans generated 2.7
million tons of consumer electronic waste,
including e-cigarette waste, that ultimately ends
up in landfills or incinerators.3
Given that the largest U.S. cigarette companies
sold about 217 billion cigarettes to wholesalers
and retailers nationwide in 2018,4 it’s no surprisethat cigarette butts are the most frequently
littered item in U.S. beaches and waterways andsecond most littered item globally.16 Cigarettebutts are often disposed of in the environment,
on streets, sidewalks, and other public areas,
and may then be carried as runoff to drains andultimately end up polluting rivers, beaches, andoceans.6,7 Because cigarette butts are primarily
made of plastic filters that don’t biodegrade, thebutts that aren’t eaten by wildlife simply pile up on
shorelines or at the bottom of bodies of water.8,9-11
The problem isn’t limited to cigarettes. Retaile-cigarette sales more than doubled, with a122.2% increase in total units from September
2014—May 2020. This increase in single-use
e-cigarette products will eventually become tonsof e-cigarette waste as these products reach
end-of-life.13 Disposing of e-cigarette waste in anenvironmentally safe and friendly way is a growing
problem, especially given the rise of single-use anddisposable e-cigarettes. E-cigarette cartridges,
such as JUUL pods, are single-use products that

March 2021

TOBACCO AND THE ENVIRONMENT

766,571
metric tons of cigarettebutts make their way
into the environment
every year.2

contain plastic, electronic and chemical waste
and many of them may also end up as litter.
Inexpensive, flavored disposable e-cigarettes suchas Puff Bar, which doubled their market share injust 10 months from August 2019 to May 2020,13
are gaining popularity and further contribute toe-cigarette waste.

LITTERCIGARETTES>

Cigarette butts comprise 30%-40% of items
collected in annual coastal/urban cleanups.14>

Cigarette butts are the most prominently
littered item on U.S. roadways, retail areas,
storm drains, loading docks, construction
sites and recreational areas.15>

In 2019, cigarette butts were the mostlittered item in U.S. beaches and waterways,
with close to a million (900,178) pieces
collected.16>

4,211,962 cigarette butts were collected onbeaches and waterways globally in 2019,making them the world’s second mostcommon type of litter after food wrappers.16

2

>

12,089 cigarette lighters, 58,672 cigar tips
and 33,865 tobacco packages or wrappers
were removed from U.S. waterways in 2015.18>

86% of smokers consider cigarette butts to belitter, but 75% of smokers throw them on the
ground or out of a car window.19>

Smokers litter as many as 65% of theircigarette butts.5

E-CIGARETTES>>>

E-cigarette-related waste is potentially amore serious environmental threat thancigarette butts because it contains metal,
circuitry, single-use plastic cartridges,
batteries and toxic chemicals in e-liquids.20,21
E-cigarette manufacturers do not provide
guidance to consumers on how to dispose ofused devices or pod/cartridge products, andthere are no receptacles or specific processes
in place.21
A Truth Initiative survey found that almost
half (46.9%) of e-cigarette device owners
said that the e-cigarette/vape device they
currently use does not provide any disposal
information such as where to send used

E-cigarette manufacturers do notprovide guidance to consumers
on how to dispose of used devices
or pod/cartridge products

March 2021

TOBACCO AND THE ENVIRONMENT

batteries or empty pods. The survey also
found that more than half (57.8%) of those
who had vaped in the past 30 days foundit inconvenient to dispose of e-cigarette
waste responsibly.

BIODEGRADABILITYCIGARETTES
Cigarette filters are made from cellulose
acetate, a plastic which only degrades under
severe biological circumstances, such as whenfilters collect in sewage. In practice, cigarettebutts tossed on streets and beaches do notbiodegrade.7,22>

Under optimal conditions, it can take atleast nine months for a cigarette butt todegrade.

>The sun may break cigarette butts down,
but only into smaller pieces of waste which
dilute into water/soil.6,7,23

Growing concerns over the impact of tobacco
waste on the environment, as well as thesubstantial costs of cleanup, have promptedstates, municipalities and institutions to enact
a variety of policy actions. For example, 317
municipalities prohibited smoking on beaches24
and 1,531 prohibited smoking in parks as of
October 2017.25

E-CIGARETTES
Unlike cigarette butts, e-cigarette waste cannot
biodegrade even under severe conditions.
E-cigarette cartridges discarded on streetsmix with leaf litter and get pushed around by
weather events, eventually breaking down into
microplastics and chemicals that flow into storm
drains to pollute waterways and wildlife.8 The
DEA advises to contact local waste departments
about their household hazardous waste (HHW)
program to see if they accept e-cigarettes, andif that is not an option, remove the battery (ifpossible) and bring the battery to recycling. Afterthe battery has been removed, the rest of thee-cigarette can be brought to DEA prescription
take-back days.42

3LAND, COASTAL AND WATERPOLLUTION
Cigarette and e-cigarette waste can pollute soil,
beaches and waterways. Studies have also shownthat cigarette and e-cigarette waste is harmful towildlife.

CIGARETTES>

Cigarette butts cause pollution by being
carried, as runoff, to drains and from there torivers, beaches and oceans.6>

Preliminary studies show that organic
compounds (such as nicotine, pesticide
residues and metal) seep from cigarettebutts into aquatic ecosystems, becoming
acutely toxic to fish and microorganisms.9,11>

In one laboratory study, the chemicals thatleached from a single cigarette butt (soakedfor 24 hours in a liter of water) released
enough toxins to kill 50 percent of thesaltwater and freshwater fish exposed to it
for 96 hours.11>

Another laboratory study found that cigarettebutts can be a source for heavy metal
contamination in water, which may harm
local organisms.26>

A study of the effects of roadside waste
on soil found that patterns of hydrocarbon
levels in the soil were similar to those oflittered cigarette butts. This indicates thatthe chemicals in the soil had seeped outof cigarette butts. Some hydrocarbons arecarcinogenic.9-11

E-CIGARETTESMarch 2021>

Both the batteries and e-cigarette devices
contain hazardous substances such as leadand mercury.27>

Lithium-ion batteries in e-cigarettes havebeen known to explode and cause fires ingarbage trucks and waste management
plants if damaged or exposed to extreme

TOBACCO AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Cigarette butts cause pollution
by being carried, as runoff,
to drains and from there to rivers,
beaches and oceans.

heat.27 According to a California survey,
56% of the fires at waste facilities between
2016-2018 were reported to have beencaused by batteries, mostly lithium-ion
ones.28,29>

Incompletely used liquid cartridges andrefills contain nicotine salts and heavy
metals, which can leach into soil andwaterways or be ingested by wildlife.29>

Before lithium-ion batteries can be placed in
the trash, they need to be fully discharged
and cooled, submerged in cold saltwater
for two weeks — covered securely with a lid— and wrapped in newspaper.42

4GROWING AND MANUFACTURING
TOBACCO PRODUCTS
>

>

>

>

815,985 pounds of toxic chemicals30 werereleased from U.S. tobacco facilities in
2019. This number is down from 1,312,796
pounds in 201531 likely in part due tothe decline in cigarette smoking and theindustry’s shifting focus to newer electronic
products.
Research has found that growing tobacco
contributes to deforestation, especiallyin the developing world.32 Deforestation
for tobacco plantations promotes soil
degradation and “failing yields” or thecapacity for the land to support the growthof any other crops or vegetation.1
Tobacco farmers typically clear landby burning it. But this land is often
agriculturally marginal and is abandoned
after only a few seasons, contributing inmany cases to desertification.1 Burning
increases greenhouse gas levels bygenerating water and air pollutants, anddecreasing forest cover1 which would
otherwise absorb the 16 million metric tonsof CO2 produced by tobacco production.
Shutting down the tobacco industry would
equate to taking 16 million cars off thestreets every single year.33
Tobacco production uses up more water
and wood, and has more pesticides applied
to it, than most other crops, further
affecting water supplies and contaminationof the soil.1

815,985poundsof toxic chemicals30 werereleased from U.S. tobacco
facilities in 2019.
E-CIGARETTES>

Since e-cigarettes quickly rose in popularity
in an under-regulated environment, we know
little about how e-cigarettes are manufactured
and the environmental impact of the production
process. Thus far, research and policy on
e-cigarettes has focused on the youth epidemic
and lack of regulation rather than the product’s
environmental impact.

>

E-cigarette companies were required to submit
information by September 9, 2020 on theenvironmental impact of their products as part ofapplications to the Food and Drug Administration
to keep their products on the market, but thisinformation is not yet publicly available.34

INDUSTRY ACCOUNTABILITY FOR TOBACCO WASTE>

Many e-cigarette manufacturers simply direct
users to hazardous waste/electronic waste disposal
companies, which often don’t accept e-cigarettes.35>

From the cellulose acetate of cigarette butts toe-liquid residue and batteries, waste management
and hazardous waste disposal plants are notcurrently equipped to handle either type of waste.
Federal regulations have not yet caught up to theneed for guidance on disposal.

>

Starting in 2019, the Drug Enforcement Agency(DEA) began accepting e-cigarette devices andcartridges during their annual National Prescription
Take Back Day, although the DEA cannot accept
devices containing lithium ion batteries.35

CIGARETTES>>March 2021

Approximately 600 million trees arechopped down every year by the tobacco
industry.43 On average each tree produces
enough paper for 15 packs of cigarettes.14
Tobacco farming and the tobacco industry
are a sizeable contributor to deforestationin many countries around the world.14

TOBACCO AND THE ENVIRONMENT

5

>

>

>

Currently, there is no industry guideline
for recycling e-cigarettes in the U.S and no
documented baseline standards for end-oflife disposal by manufacturers.35 There is norequirement in place to hold manufacturers
accountable for the post-consumer waste they
helped produce or to devise a clear and safe
system to dispose of these items as hazardous
materials or e-waste.27,36
Even though guidance exists on bestpractices for holding companies like tobacco
manufacturers accountable for reducing or
disposing of the post-consumer waste that
results from use of their products, they are notcurrently enforced across the industry by any
governing body including the Environmental
Protection Agency.3,38
States and local agencies that have the authority
to enforce hazardous waste penalties can help
reduce the environmental impact. As of January
2020, the EPA states that, violators of hazardous
waste requirements can incur civil penalties of
up to $75,867 per day.37 In 2006, Washington
state became one of the first states in the nation
to pass a law putting the responsibility forrecycling e-waste on the producer, not taxpayers.
Manufacturers that produce electronics wererequired to pay for and manage their recycling.37

Tobacco manufacturers
need to be held responsible
for the extreme amounts ofwaste that their products create

March 2021

TOBACCO AND THE ENVIRONMENTTOBACCO INDUSTRY NEGLIGENCE
The tobacco industry is responsible for producing
much more than tobacco products — they are
guilty of creating hundreds of thousands of poundsof cigarette and e-cigarette waste each year.
Cigarette and e-cigarette waste present serious
threats to the ecosystem and requires a long-term
solution. Instead of accepting responsibility for
their products, tobacco companies are using theenvironmental problems associated with tobacco
products as a ploy for positive press attention.
Some tobacco companies have included reducing
the amount of cigarette butts in the environmentas part of their sustainability goals. For example,
American Spirit continues its “inspirational” themed
environmental messaging in 2021 with a new“Stronger Together” slogan and reaffirmation of
their goal to help recycle a half-billion cigarettebutts by 2025,39 and Philip Morris International
claims it endeavors to reduce plastic litter fromits products by 50% from 2021 to 2025 as partof its “Our World Is Not an Ashtray” initiative.40
Campaigns like this are hypocritical andmisleading to the public. The tobacco industry
not only created this new waste stream in the firstplace, they are trying to cover up their harmful
practices through misdirection and public displaysof eco-activism.

POLICIES TO PROTECT THE
ENVIRONMENT
Tobacco manufacturers need to be held responsible
for the extreme amounts of waste that theirproducts create and to facilitate the environmentallysafe disposal of their products — both combustible
and electronic. Strong local regulations coupledwith financial penalties to reduce the amountof e-cigarette waste are needed to reduce thenegative environmental consequences from theirproducts.40 Increasing consumer awareness ofthe environmental toxicity and dangers posed bydiscarding cigarette6 and e-cigarette related waste
into landfills41 and encouraging smokers and vapers
to quit using these products altogether are thebest ways to protect the environment from tobacco
product waste.
6

REFERENCES
1

Tobacco Atlas. Environment. https://tobaccoatlas.org/topic/
environment/. Published 2020. Accessed August 5, 2020.

23 Hons NS. Photodegredation of Cellulose Acetate Fibers. J Polym Sci Pol
Chem. 1977;15:725-744.

2

Stigler-Granados P, Fulton L, Nunez Patlan E, Terzyk M, Novotny TE.
Global Health Perspectives on Cigarette Butts and the Environment. Int
J Environ Res Public Health. 2019;16(10):1858.

24 American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. Municipalities with
Smokefree Beach Laws. 2017.

3

Environmental Protection Agency. Basic Information about Electronics
Stewardship. https://www.epa.gov/smm-electronics/basic-informationabout-electronics-stewardship. Published 2020. Accessed.

4

Federal Trade Commission Cigarette Report for 2018 2019.

5

Research A. Littering Behavior in America - Results of a National Study.
Keep America Beautiful;2009.

6

Novotny TE, Lum K, Smith E, Wang V, Barnes R. Cigarettes butts andthe case for an environmental policy on hazardous cigarette waste. Int J
Environ Res Public Health. 2009;6:1691-1705.

7Luke JA. Degradability of Filter Materials and Plastics Packaging.
Impact of Environmental Regulations on Packing and Product Web
site. http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/rvj95a99/pdf. Published 1991.
Accessed.

8

9

Mock J, Hendlin YH. Notes from the Field: Environmental
Contamination from E-cigarette, Cigarette, Cigar, and Cannabis
Products at 12 High Schools—San Francisco Bay Area, 2018–2019. Morb
Mortal Wkly Rep. 2019;68(40):897.
Micevska T, Warne MS, Pablo F, Patra R. Variation in, and causes of,
toxicity of cigarette butts to a cladoceran and microtox. Arch Environ
Contam Toxicol. 2006;50(2):205-212.

10 Register K. Cigarette Butts as Litter-Toxic as Well as Ugly. Underwater
Naturalist, Bulletin of the American Littoral Society. 2000;5(2).
11 Slaughter E, Gersberg R, Watanabe K, Rudolph J, Novotny TE. Toxicity
of Cigarette Butts, and their Chemical Components, to Marine andFreshwater Fish. Tob Control. 2011;20:i23-i27.
12 Convenience Store News. Convenience Store News Market Research;Nielsen C-store Track. 2019.
13 Ali FR DM, Vallone D, et al. . E-cigarette Unit Sales, by Product andFlavor Type — United States, 2014–2020. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020.
14 World Health Organization. Tobacco and its environmental impact: an
overview. Geneva 2017.
15 Keep America Beautiful. Littering Behavior in America: Results ofa National Study. http://www.kab.org/site/DocServer/KAB_Report_
Final_2.pdf?docID=4581. Published 2009. Accessed.
16 Together, We are Team Ocean. Ocean Conservancy;2020.
17 Ocean Conservancy. International Coastal Cleanup 2017 Report. Ocean
Conservancy 2017.
18 Ocean Conservancy. International Coastal Cleanup Data Collection &Reporting Tool. International Coastal Cleanup. 2015.
19 Rath JM, Rubenstein RA, Curry LE, Shank SE, Cartwright JC. Cigarette
litter: smokers’ attitudes and behaviors. Int J Environ Res Public Health.
2012;9(6):2189-2203.
20 SIMS Lifecycle Services. A Closer Look: Lithium-Ion Batteries in
E-waste. https://www.simsrecycling.com/2019/05/21/a-closer-looklithium-ion-batteries-in-e-waste/. Published 2020. Accessed.
21 Krause MJ, Townsend TG. Hazardous waste status of discarded
electronic cigarettes. Waste Manage. 2015;39:57-62.

25 American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation. Municipalities with
Smokefree Park Laws. 2017.
26 Moerman JW, Potts GE. Analysis of Metals Leached from Smoked
Cigarette Litter. Tob Control. 2011;20(Suppl 1):i30–5.
27 Forster M. What happens when you throw away e-cigarettes? https://
missionlocal.org/2018/11/what-happens-when-you-throw-away-an-ecigarette/. Published 2018. Accessed.
28 Mize J. Batteries cited as cause of Wash. recycling truck fire (reprint).
The Columbian 2019.
29 Hendlin Y. H. (2018). Alert: Public Health Implications of Electronic
Cigarette Waste. Am J Public Health. 108(11), 1489–1490. https://doi.
org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304699
30 Environmental Protection Agency. Chemical Report; TRI Explorer; 2019
Dataset. EPA2019.
31 Environmental Protection Agency. Chemical Report; TRI Explorer; 2015
Dataset. EPA2017.
32 Geist HJ. Global assessment of deforestation related to tobacco
farming. Tobacco Control. 1999;8(1):18-28.
33 Tobacco Free Life. Smoking Environmental Risks. https://
tobaccofreelife.org/why-quit-smoking/smoking-effects/smokingenvironmental-risks/. Published 2020. Accessed.
34 Ebbs S. E-cigarettes highlight the challenges of dealing with plastic
waste - Lawmakers announced a new bill to tackle plastic pollution thisweek. ABC News,2020.
35 PEGEX. How E-Cigarettes Could Provide a Model for All E-Waste.
Hazardous Waste. https://www.hazardouswasteexperts.com/hazardouswaste-management-e-cigarettes/. Published 2017. Accessed.
36 Chang H. Research gaps related to the environmental impacts ofelectronic cigarettes. Tob Control. 2014;23 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):ii54-ii58.
37 Washington Environment Council. Black Friday Goes Green as
Manufacturers Help Consumers Recycle. https://wecprotects.org/
black-friday-goes-green-manufacturers-help-consumers-recycle/.
Published 2020. Accessed.
38 Leclerc SH, Badami MG. Extended producer responsibility for
E-waste management: Policy drivers and challenges. J Clean Prod.
2020;251:119657.
39 Businesswire. PMI Launches “Our World Is Not an Ashtray” Initiativeand Aims to Halve Plastic Litter from Products by 2025. Businesswire
2020.
40 Shevchenko T, Laitala K, Danko Y. Understanding Consumer E-Waste
Recycling Behavior: Introducing a New Economic Incentive to Increase
the Collection Rates. Sustainability. 2019;11(9):2656.
41 Templeton N. The Dark Side of Recycling and Reusing Electronics:
Is Washington’s E-Cycle Program Adequate? Seattle J Soc Justice.
2008;7(2).
42 Framework Convention Alliance. Tobacco: A barrier to sustainable
development. March 2015. http://fctc.wpengine.com/wp-content/
uploads/2015/03/Tobacco_sustainable_development_190315.pdf

22 Ishigaki T, Sugano W, Nakanishi A, Tateda M, Ike M, Fujita M. The
degradability of biodegradable plastics in aerobic and anaerobic waste
landfill model reactors. Chemosphere. 2003;54:225-233.

March 2021

TOBACCO AND THE ENVIRONMENT

7

900 G Street, NW
Fourth Floor
Washington, DC 20001
202.454.5555

truthinitiative.org@ truthinitiative
March 2021

TOBACCO AND THE ENVIRONMENT