Tobacco product waste wreaks havoc on our environment

The tobacco industry produces about 6 trillion cigarettes – each year.⁶ As a result, cigarette butts are the number one most littered item on Earth.¹⁰ Number one here in California too – by far. Each filter is made of 15,000 strands of microplastic fibers.¹¹ Microplastics pollute our food, water, and air.^{121314 ‍}And because they are made of plastic, they can take years to decompose, which leaves behind mountains of accumulating toxic microplastics to pollute our environment that could make their way inside of us.¹⁵ Butts also are packed with toxic chemicals, like arsenic and lead, that seep into our environment and threaten our oceans and wildlife as they lay discarded on the ground.¹⁶

The tobacco industry takes zero responsibility for the unchecked amounts of toxic waste dumped into our environment. Their own internal documents show the lies and PR spin they’ve used to cover up their pollution with the hope that we put the blame on their customers for littering and allow them to avoid any environmental regulation.^17181920 This lack of accountability is at the expense of $41 million California taxpayer dollars each year.²¹

And here’s the kicker: The industry’s new vapes that have caused a youth vaping epidemic – they have all the same environmental problems as cigarette butts – plastic pollution and toxic chemicals leaking into the environment.^‍722 Plus, because they’re electronic devices, they leave behind electronic waste, which is notoriously difficult and costly to dispose of.⁸²³

Bottom line: No one, and no place, is safe from Big Tobacco.