Cigarette Butts

Cigarette manufacturers must pay in Spain for cleaning up butts.

Thanks to new environmental rules, tobacco companies are obliged to pay the bill for cleaning up discarded cigarette butts. Manufacturers should also inform the population about how to dispose of butts responsibly. It is still unclear how much the tobacco industry will spend annually in cleaning costs. According to Catalan research, it would amount to more than one billion euros annually, reports The Guardian. The Spanish government has already taken several measures to combat environmental pollution caused by cigarettes. For example, smoking is prohibited on around 500 Spanish beaches. All beaches in Barcelona are smoke-free.

Trimbos Institute. Cigarettes cause major damage to the environment. Around three quarters of smoked cigarette butts are discarded on the street and end up in the environment. Due to the toxins that remain on the butts and the plastics that the filter is made of, butts are a significant threat to nature and animals. This is evident from the fact sheet “Environmental damage caused by cigarette waste” published today.

Anyone who carelessly throws away a cigarette because there are no ashtrays nearby may think they are doing little harm with their small act of rebellion. Unfortunately, the figures contradict this: according to the WHO, no less than 2 out of 3 smoked butts would end up in our environment. Our Nature

Effects on animals (butts) Unfortunately, cigarette butts often end up in nature. Through water and light, the filters break down into microplastics and release toxic substances into the environment, with the associated effects on existing organisms. The toxic substances in butts can have serious consequences for animals. It can cause them to be acutely poisoned, their skin or eyes to become irritated, to develop cancer, to disrupt their reproductive system, to mutate their cells, or The death.

One example is the common mussel, a species that is common along the Dutch coast, and is also commonly eaten. Mussels get their food from water by filtering large amounts of water. Where many mussels live, the water can be a lot clearer. In an experiment where mussels were placed in a basin of water along with butts, the mussels absorbed much less water. This can have negative effects on both the mussels themselves and the entire ecosystem.