Picking up cigarette butts ahead of potential ban on plastic cigarette filters

After all, the House of Representatives adopted a motion on 8 February for a 70% reduction target for cigarette butts in the environment. And State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management Vivianne Heijnen announced an investigation in March, which also includes the feasibility of a national ban on plastic cigarette filters. Heijnen and her colleague Maarten van Ooijen of Public Health will announce the results of the investigation at the end of this year. The campaign is coordinated by the Plastic Peuken Collectief, a national partnership of environmental organisations, businesses and citizens that wants to get rid of plastic cigarette pollution. This year, people in ten other countries are also participating. The English name of the campaign is Plastic Butt Smut. With the Plastic PeukMeuk action, the Plastic Peuken Collectief is calling for a ban on plastic filters. They also want the tobacco industry to be made responsible for preventing and cleaning up this plastic waste. Because the filters of the butts do not decompose. Almost all filters are made of cellulose acetate, a type of plastic. But outside of tobacco companies, this is hardly known. Littered cigarette butts thus contribute heavily to global plastic pollution. They also lead to higher clean-up costs for municipalities, deface the living environment and attract other litter. “Every day a full rubbish truck of plastic cigarette butts ends up on the street in the Netherlands’’, says campaign leader Karl Beerenfenger. ‘’Even if 90% of smokers disposed of their butts properly, hundreds of millions of plastic filters would still end up on the street and in the environment every year.’’ “Clean-up actions alone do not solve the problem. We have to tackle the product itself. We want to get rid of the plastic cigarette filter. These filters are not good for the environment.’’ Filters have been shown to be toxic to fish and also hinder the growth of certain grasses. ‘’It has also been scientifically proven that the filters do not make smoking cigarettes any less harmful, contrary to what the tobacco industry would have us believe.’’ GoClean published the results of a weeks-long national cigarette butt monitoring in early June. Director Marloes Heebing: ‘’This pollution cannot be cleaned up, and awareness will hardly help to combat the many billions of butts in our environment. To achieve a 70% reduction target, the filter must be removed from the cigarette.’’ Participants record the collected butts via the Litterati app. Just like in 2021, GoClean is drawing up a report, which is expected at the end of July. In 2019, 2020 and 2021 people also took to the streets and collected 51,000, 142,000 butts and 560,000 cigarette filters respectively. Contact interviews Karl Beerenfenger | Campaign leader | +31 6 18 632 023 Bernadette Hakken ( Het Peukenmeisje ) | Organiser Plastic PeukMeuk | +31 6 23 287 740 Map with local cleanup actions and contact details https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/embed?mid=1_YSUgETP70B3E6YN5NfdeoFKgamgduc&ehbc=2E312F&ll=52.208241847636394%2C5.232287200000005&z=8 Online Website: www.plasticpeukencollectief.nl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlasticPeukenCollectief Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plastic_peuken_collectief/ Factsheet plastic cigarette filters https://plasticpeukencollectief.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022-PPC_-Factsheet-plastic-sigarettenfilters.pdf Infographic plastic cigarette filters https://plasticpeukencollectief.nl/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Dutch-Factsheet-Plastic-Sigarettenfilters.pdf See also Recycling Netwerk Benelux: Pleased with State Secretary's investigation into ban on plastic cigarette filters Photo credits: Jerry de Mars

After all, the House of Representatives adopted a motion on 8 February for a 70% reduction target for cigarette butts in the environment. And State Secretary for Infrastructure and Water Management Vivianne Heijnen announced an investigation in March, which also includes the feasibility of a national ban on plastic cigarette filters. Heijnen and her colleague Maarten van Ooijen of Public Health will announce the results of the investigation at the end of this year.

The campaign is coordinated by the Plastic Peuken Collectief, a national partnership of environmental organisations, businesses and citizens that wants to get rid of plastic cigarette pollution. This year, people in ten other countries are also participating. The English name of the campaign is Plastic Butt Smut.

With the Plastic PeukMeuk action, the Plastic Peuken Collectief is calling for a ban on plastic filters. They also want the tobacco industry to be made responsible for preventing and cleaning up this plastic waste.

Because the filters of the butts do not decompose. Almost all filters are made of cellulose acetate, a type of plastic. But outside of tobacco companies, this is hardly known. Littered cigarette butts thus contribute heavily to global plastic pollution. They also lead to higher clean-up costs for municipalities, deface the living environment and attract other litter.

“Every day a full rubbish truck of plastic cigarette butts ends up on the street in the Netherlands’’, says campaign leader Karl Beerenfenger. ‘’Even if 90% of smokers disposed of their butts properly, hundreds of millions of plastic filters would still end up on the street and in the environment every year.’’

“Clean-up actions alone do not solve the problem. We have to tackle the product itself. We want to get rid of the plastic cigarette filter. These filters are not good for the environment.’’ Filters have been shown to be toxic to fish and also hinder the growth of certain grasses. ‘’It has also been scientifically proven that the filters do not make smoking cigarettes any less harmful, contrary to what the tobacco industry would have us believe.’’

GoClean published the results of a weeks-long national cigarette butt monitoring in early June. Director Marloes Heebing: ‘’This pollution cannot be cleaned up, and awareness will hardly help to combat the many billions of butts in our environment. To achieve a 70% reduction target, the filter must be removed from the cigarette.’’

Participants record the collected butts via the Litterati app. Just like in 2021, GoClean is drawing up a report, which is expected at the end of July.

In 2019, 2020 and 2021 people also took to the streets and collected 51,000, 142,000 butts and 560,000 cigarette filters respectively.

Contact interviews

Karl Beerenfenger | Campaign leader | +31 6 18 632 023

Bernadette Hakken (The Butt Girl) | Organiser Plastic PeukMeuk | +31 6 23 287 740