Shareholders Seek to Hold Tobacco Industry Accountable for Littered Plastic Cigarette Butts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Sophia Wilson, swilson@asyousow.org, (341) 600-1832

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA—DEC. 12, 2023—As You Sow filed a first-of-its-kind shareholder proposal on Friday asking U.S. tobacco giant Altria to assess and take responsibility for the collection and cleanup costs of trillions of discarded plastic cigarette filters. Used cigarette filters are the most littered form of plastic on the planet, with an estimated marine ecosystem and waste management cost of $26 billion per year. 

Approximately 4.5 trillion cigarette butts with plastic acetate filters are discarded annually, releasing an estimated 300,000 tons of plastic microfibers into the environment, where they remain indefinitely. Cigarette butt filters also contain more than 4,000 toxic chemicals, including tar, arsenic, lead, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and other known carcinogens.  

Inaction by Altria will leave it unprepared for the growing and material risk of emerging regulations designed to address this massive pollution problem. The European Union’s Single-Use Plastics Directive already imposes Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on tobacco producers to cover the costs of collecting and processing cigarette filters. Countries like Denmark, France, and Spain are levying cleanup fees.  

“Cleanup costs have historically been borne by taxpayers rather than the industry that places these destructive products on the market,” said Conrad MacKerron, senior vice president of As You Sow. “As a generator of enormous amounts of plastic filter cigarette waste, Altria must begin to take financial responsibility for cleanup. Until North America catches up to Europe and passes EPR for tobacco filter legislation, the industry can address this growing problem by setting aside billions of dollars annually to voluntarily support ongoing state and municipal cigarette filter cleanup efforts.”

 # # #
As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder representative, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, pesticides, racial justice, workplace diversity, and executive compensation. Click here for As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.