The increased global attention on addressing plastics pollution is an opportunity to tackle tobacco’s plastics, but this is just one part of a larger chain of environmental harms. Tobacco post-consumer waste comprises of the plastic packaging and the cigarette filter, both are known to be single use plastics. Tobacco’s plastic packaging can be differentiated from cigarette butts, in terms of policy treatment, as the latter is a hazardous material, and the former could easily be replaced with other forms of packaging. Based on experiments conducted, smoked cigarette filters, due to the toxic content and tobacco residue, could potentially cause far more harms to marine life, plant life, and genetic material, even in the short run.
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