UN must ban cigarette filters – Global health and environment groups urge action

Geneva, 5 August 2025 – This week, governments from across the world are meeting in Geneva to negotiate a new international treaty to tackle plastic pollution during the second meeting of the fifth round of talks (INC-5.2). Afterdifficult discussions in Busan in November 2024, this session is expected to lead to a final text. Among the sources of pollution under discussion, cigarette butts are a major but often overlooked contributor. Civil society organizations call for a global ban on these toxic, plastic-based filters.

Each year, an estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are discarded into the environment around the world – that is 460 billion butts in ASEAN. Despite their small size, these filters have a massive environmental footprint. They are made of cellulose acetate, aplastic that breaks down slowly into harmful microplastics. Cigarette butts also contain over 7,000 chemicals—including nicotine and toxic heavy metals—that can leach into soil and waterways, harming ecosystems and wildlife.

Systematic deception: Why cigarette filters are harmful to health

Filters were introduced by the tobacco industry in the 1950s to ease public fears about lung cancer. However, they are not only ineffective at protecting health—they also cause environmental harm. Experts

warn that filters create a false sense of security. In reality, they encourage deeper inhalation and increase the absorption of toxic substances into the lungs.

The world is negotiating – filters must not be forgotten

As countries gather at the United Nations in Geneva from 5 to 14 August tofinalize the global plastics treaty, plastic cigarette filters must be explicitly addressed. A failure to include filters would leave one of the most pervasive single-use plastics untouched. Advocacy groups insist that all filters—regardless of material—should be included in the ban.

In the ASEAN region, the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA) is calling for accountability from the government on the negative effects oftobacco not just for jeopardizing public health but also for environmental safety and degradation. Recently, SEATCA’s opinion piece, highlighted how this final negotiation could either lead the ASEAN region towards reversing the crisis on plastic pollution or continue paying about USD 10 billion to clean up the pollution from the toxic cigarette filters. There is no middle ground and ASEAN countries must commit to do their fair share in negotiating and obtaining concrete decisions for a plastic and filter-free future.

No room for false solutions: Ban all types of filters

The draft treaty aims to eliminate single-use plastic. Many eco-friendly alternatives already exist for everyday products like straws and bags. But when it comes to cigarette filters, there are no sustainable alternatives. The tobacco industry is now marketing so-called “eco-filters” and “green butts”, made of paper or plant fibers, as biodegradable. These products aremisleading. They still release tar, nicotine and heavy metals into the environment, and often only break down underindustrial composting conditions—conditions rarely found in nature. These greenwashing tactics must not fool negotiators: the treaty must include a comprehensive ban on all types of cigarette filters, not just plastic ones.

ASEAN is a regional microcosm of the global problem

Cigarette butts are the most commonly littered waste item globally. Any global plastics treaty must be aligned with the WHOFramework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which explicitly calls for action on the environmental harms of tobacco products and protection from industry interference. Cigarette filters should not simply be treated as waste—these are tobacco product components with proven environmental and health risks.

“Cigarette filters must go. The tobacco industry must be held accountable, not just for harming public health but also for damaging the environment all these years. We urge the ASEAN member states and global policymakers to do the right thing, for the people and the planet,” said Mary Assunta, SEATCA’s Senior Policy Advisor.

Across ASEAN, the 460 billion cigarette butts remain amongst the most common forms of plastic waste, exacerbated by the tobacco industry’s misleading “eco filter” claims. While seven ASEAN member states, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia,the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand, have policies to reduce single-use plastic, cigarette filters have been overlooked and have fallen through regulatory gaps.

Every ASEAN member state except Indonesia is a party to the WHO FCTC, which means that they have committed to takemeasures against tobacco industry interference and its harms, including its contribution to the plastic waste crisis. With the prevalence of cigarette waste amidst established policies for plastic waste reduction, the stakes are high for ASEAN member states to have a united stance.

SEATCA calls for these action in this final negotiation in INC-5.2:

1. A global ban on all filters: All cigarette filters, including so-called “eco” or biodegradable versions, must be banned under the treaty. Filters are harmful tobacco product components and must be treated as such.
2. Polluter pays principle: Tobacco manufacturers must be held financially responsible for filter pollution and cleanup.
3. No greenwashing: The treaty should include an explicit reference to the FCTC, reject any industry influence, andensure consistent alignment between environmental and public health
4. Independent public awareness and enforcement: Governments must launch industry-free public awareness campaigns and enforce mandatory collection and disposal systems for tobacco product waste.

For information:

Ms. Cyresse Ann Achilleos, Media and Communications Officer, SEATCA Email: cyresse@seatca.org
Mobile: +63 975 701 7130

About SEATCA

SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting ASEAN countries to accelerate and effectively implement the tobacco control measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). SEATCA is an accredited ASEAN entity and an official Observer to the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties.WHO bestowed on SEATCA the World No Tobacco Day Award in 2004 and the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award in 2014. More information about SEATCA: www.seatca.org

About AT Switzerland

The Swiss Association for Tobacco Control is the centre of expertise in this area. As an umbrella organisation for promoting atobacco-free life, it currently has more than 50 organisational members. AT Switzerland provides them with a broad network of experts and its specialist knowledge in the fields of tobacco control and prevention. Through evidence-based services and networking among key stakeholders, it is committed to a sustainably healthy and smoke-free Switzerland. More information about AT Switzerland: www.at-schweiz.ch

About stop2drop

Created in 2019 by a class from the canton of Bern, stop2drop became an independent association in 2022. Its goal: tocombat cigarette littering and raise public and political awareness of the environmental and health impacts of nicotine substitutes. The NGO relies on a vast network of partners active in smoking prevention and environmental protection. TheTobacco Prevention Fund supports stop2drop as part of its program for children and youth. More information about stop2drop: https://stop2drop.ch/

Principle sources

• Briefing Paper for INC 5.2, STOP (Stop Tobacco Pollution) Alliance: https://ggtc.world/knowledge/environment-sustainability-and-human-rights/cigarette-filters-in-the-g lobal-plastics-treaty (14 July 2025)
• Series of  articles:  Plastic  and  tobacco,  AT  Switzerland  (2024): https://www.at-schweiz.ch/de/wissen/nachhaltigkeit/plastik-tabak/The Swiss Association for Tobacco Control has taken advantage of the negotiations on an international convention aimed at reducing plastic pollution to publish a series of six articles on the theme of “Plastic and tobacco…”
• Haein Choi, Jari Hanhimaki, Hanna Pacht (2025): The Hidden Plastic Crisis of Tobaccos. Can One Smoke  Without Polluting? https://www.at-schweiz.ch/documents/1099/AT_Research_Series_No._8_The_Hidden_Plastic_Crpdf
• According to the WHO, between 340 and 680 million kilograms of cigarette butts end up in the environment worldwide each year. (“Tobacco and its environmental impact: an overview,“ WHO, 2017)
• Cigarette butts contain more than 7,000 chemicals, including heavy metals and nicotine. (“Tobacco and its environmental impact: an overview”, WHO, 2017)
• Cigarette filters are a marketing ploy dating back to the 1950s. (“The ‘filter fraud’ persists: the tobacco industry is still using filters to suggest lower health risks while destroying the environment,” Evans-Reeves, Lauber, Hiscock, 2021)
• Link to the campaign website, “Ban all cigarette filters, not just plastic ones”: https://ban-all-filters-5zoo0x5.gamma.site/