World No-Tobacco Day (May 31): How tobacco is poisoning our planet

Beyond the impact on human health, tobacco production and consumption is a huge environmental burden on the planet – deforestation, depletion of water resources, contamination of soil, cigarette butt littering, quality of air and e-cigarette waste.

Cigarette butts: Containing over 7,000 toxic chemicals, tobacco products are one of the most littered items on the planet. Roughly 4.5 trillion cigarette filters (estimated 766,571 metric tons) pollute our oceans, rivers, city sidewalks, parks, soil and beaches every year, according to Tobacco: Poisoning out Planet, a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Since the 1980s, cigarette butts have comprised 30%-40% of items collected in annual coastal/urban cleanups. Globally, 1,134,292 cigarette butts were cleaned up in beaches and waterways in 2021, making them the world’s second most common type of litter after food wrappers, exceeding plastic bags and straws.

E-cigarettes: According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, every second, at least five disposable e-cigarettes are being thrown away in the United States alone, amounting to 150 million devices per year. The total amount of e-waste generated globally is projected to rise to 74.7 metric tons by 2030. The ten tons of lithium discarded in vapes yearly in the U.K. alone is enough to construct 1,200 electric vehicles. Meanwhile, the International Energy Agency estimates the world will face lithium shortages by 2025.

Deforestation: As of 2022, tobacco farming is responsible for 5% of all global deforestation. Clearing of land for cultivation and large amounts of wood needed for curing tobacco cause massive deforestation at a rate of about 200,000 hectares per year. On average, each tree produces enough paper for 15 packs of cigarettes and approximately 600 million trees are chopped down every year by the tobacco industry. Tobacco manufacturers use four miles of paper every hour to wrap and package cigarettes and other products — making the entire industry a huge contributor to deforestation. This also leads to the creation of over 2 million tons of packaging waste every year.

Use of water resources: Tobacco production requires up to eight times more water than tomatoes or potatoes. For every kilogram of tobacco that is not produced, consumed and disposed of, the potable water needs of one person can be met for an entire year. Globally, every year, about 22 billion tonnes of water are used in tobacco production, an amount equivalent to water in 15 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, or roughly the volume of water that flows in the Amazon, the largest river in the world, in one day.

Release of carbon-dioxide: Tobacco smoke contains three major greenhouse gases (CO2, methane and nitrous oxides), as well as other air pollutants. Production and consumption of tobacco releases carbon dioxide equivalent to driving 17 million gas-powered cars each year, according to a 2022 report from the WHO. It produces up to 10 times as much particle matter pollution — microscopic solids or liquid droplets that can be inhaled — as diesel exhaust.

Harming marine life: Cigarette butts cause pollution by being carried as runoff to drains and from there to rivers, beaches and oceans. Preliminary studies show that organic compounds (such as nicotine, pesticide residues and metal) seep from cigarette butts into aquatic ecosystems, becoming acutely toxic to fish and microorganisms. Under optimal conditions, it can take at least nine months for a cigarette butt to degrade. The sun may break cigarette butts down, but only into smaller pieces of waste which dilute into water/soil. In one laboratory study by the Truth Initiative, the chemicals that leached from a single cigarette butt (soaked for 24 hours in a litre of water) released enough toxins to kill 50% of the saltwater and freshwater fish exposed to it for 96 hours.

Pesticides: Since tobacco plants are vulnerable to pests and diseases, tobacco is a highly pesticide-dependent crop. Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and lindane are the most common pesticides sprayed on tobacco plantations that can persist on leaves after harvesting and processing into their manufactured forms. When tobacco is smoked, these residues can be degraded but usually not destroyed. Pesticides are not only a health hazard for the smokers but also for the farmers. According to the WHO, “each day, a tobacco worker who plants, cultivates and harvests tobacco may absorb as much nicotine as found in 50 cigarettes”.

Quality of Air: When cigarettes are lit and smoked, they pollute indoor and outdoor environments with mainstream (from the burning stick) and second-hand smoke. They both include pollutants and toxic substances such as tar, ammonia, pyridine, formaldehyde, quinolone, styrene, benzene, acetaldehyde, and isoprene, among many others. A WHO study estimated that during a 5-year period, the amount of tar emitted to the global environment was between 137.7 and 451.3 million kilograms.

(Source: Truth Initiative, WHO, NCD Alliance, Tobacco Atlas)