Utrecht, July 6th, 2025.On July 5th thousands of volunteers around the world collected 964,000 cigarette butts from their streets and nature. No Butts Day is an annual event that mobilises people from every continent. They call on governments to ban plastic cigarette filters. In decades well look back and think: how could we have let this widespread toxic pollution happen?, says coordinator Bernadette Hakken.

Worldwide Action

In 25 countries, including the Philippines,people participated during the seventh edition of No Butts Day. Armed with tweezers, gloves and buckets they collected cigarette butts, from Australia to Finland and from Congo to Canada. No Butts Day is not about cleaning up, says the organisation. All volunteers call for a ban on plastic cigarette filters. Hakken: Contrary to what the tobacco industry wants us to believe, this enormous problem cant be solved with awareness raising and cleanups. Plastic cigarette filters just need to be banned - the problem is too big.

Eye-opener

It is estimated that every second 100,000 cigarette butts end up on the ground and in the water. Once you see them lying around, you cant unsee them anymore. And theyre everywhere, said a volunteer. Plastic cigarette filters were found everywhere: on playgrounds, in front of hospitals, on beaches, in parks, in rivers, and in oceans. Even in places that were relatively clean, they were collected in large numbers. A local politician admitted he knew cigarette filters were a problem, but not on this scale. Going out hunting for cigarette butts is a confronting eye-opener. The magnitude of this problem is truly shocking, he said.

Enormous Form of Toxic Pollution

Almost all cigarette filters contain plastic. When discarded, they break up into microplastics and release thousands of toxic chemicals like pesticides, arsene, heavy metals and tar into the environment. According to the organisation behind No Plastic Filter, a recently launched campaign that advocates for a ban on plastic cigarette filters, the filter is designed to be littered. That is why up to two-thirds of filters end up in the environment. And even if 90% of used cigarette filters would be discarded in a bin, it would still mean that hundreds of millions of filters would end up in the environment every day", says campaign lead Karl Beerenfenger.

The Filter Doesnt Protect People Who Smoke

Many assume that filters are better for your health. The opposite is true. Instead of reducing the health risks associated with smoking, they may worsen them. Yogi Hendlin, public health scientist from Erasmus University Rotterdam, explains: The tobacco industry knowingly and willingly caused tremendous pollution, and misled smokers, when they introduced the plastic cigarette filter in the 1950s. It's well documented that smokers take deeper drags to ‘compensate' for filters. The filter was and is a useless product thats merely a marketing trick to sell more cigarettes. In 2023, the World Health Organisation (WHO) called cigarette filters problematic and avoidable plastic and called on governments worldwide to ban all cigarette filters.

A Ban on Plastic Cigarette Filters

Pressure from society is growing worldwide, with people and organisations from forty countries having signed the No Plastic Filter-call. Decision makers are on the ball: will they ban the filter? Current developments in legislative processes around the world provide opportunities for taking action, like the Global Plastics Treaty, which is currently being negotiated by the United Nations, and the Single-Use Plastics Directive of the European Union.

Beerenfenger concludes: The unfiltered truth is that were all being fooled. Politicians and policymakers have the chance to make history by ridding the world of this massive and unnecessary form of toxic pollution.

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Bernadette Hakken (Cigarette Butt Girl), Coordinator No Butts Day

E:[email protected]

P: +31-6-23287740

W:https://www.instagram.com/het.peukenmeisje/?hl=en

Karl Beerenfenger, Campaign Lead No Plastic Filter

E:[email protected]

P: +31-6-18632023

W:https://noplasticfilter.org/

More information on the campaign can be found here:https://noplasticfilter.org/

EcoWaste Coalition