On the sidewalks, in the mountains, on the beaches ... Each year, 30 million cigarette butts would be thrown in France. A real environmental problem, knowing that a single butt can pollute up to 500 liters of water, and that it takes about 12 years to disappear. Faced with these data, the ecologist deputy of Bouches-du-Rhone, François-Michel Lambert, decided to declare them war.
"Same logic as for diesel"
According to him, the problem is sanitary as well as environmental. "It's also a deception for the smoker, because it's been made believe for decades that a filter makes the cigarette less harmful," he says at the microphone of Europe 1. He is convinced that analysis results are distorted by the tobacco industry. "I'm afraid we are in the same logic as for diesel," he regrets. The member is about to introduce a bill to ban the sale of non-compostable filter cigarettes by 2022.
Scientific studies
François-Michel Lambert is not the only one to wish to see them disappear. British and American scientists have just published a study in the "British medical journal" on this subject. For them, cigarette filters are not only a serious threat to the environment, but they are also ineffective in reducing the harmfulness of cigarettes. Their conclusion is clear: the filters would only be used by manufacturers to save money on the dose of tobacco used in their manufacture. Enough to strengthen the positions of François-Michel Lambert of the twenty or so signatories who are working alongside him.