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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-05-15 Daily Xml
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Cigarette Waste

The Hon. R.A. SIMMS (17:06): I move:

That this council—

1. Notes that:

(a) of the 17.75 billion cigarettes estimated to be consumed in Australia each year, between 30 per cent to 75 per cent end up as litter;

(b) cigarette waste makes up to 14 per cent of total waste items found during Clean Up Australia Day;

(c) 34 per cent of total litter counted by KESAB is cigarette waste; and

(d) at the Conference of Parties (COP10) in February 2024, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has resolved to urge signatories to take action on the environmental impact of cigarette waste.

2. Acknowledges that littered cigarette butts:

(a) contain cellulose acetate and can take 15 years to break down in sea water;

(b) create plastic microfibres as they degrade; and

(c) contain over 7,000 chemicals and one butt can contaminate 40 litres of water.

3. Recognises that:

(a) Spain has introduced regulations to require tobacco companies to pay for the clean-up of cigarettes;

(b) San Francisco collects litter tax from retailers and charges tobacco companies for the cost of cleaning up; and

(c) the NSW Environment Protection Authority has initiated consultation on cigarette butts through introducing design standards to design out plastic tobacco filters.

4. Calls on the Malinauskas government to:

(a) take any possible action to ensure the tobacco industry is kept accountable for the waste they produce; and

(b) raise the matter with the national environment ministers at their next meeting.

This motion notes the huge amount of cigarette waste that is consumed in Australia each year. It notes the number of cigarettes that are consumed. People are not necessarily consuming the cigarette waste, although cigarettes are adverse to their health. This motion notes that of the 17.75 billion cigarettes estimated to be consumed in Australia each year, between 30 to 75 per cent of those end up as litter. Indeed, cigarette waste makes up 14 per cent of total waste items found during Clean Up Australia Day, and 34 per cent of total litter that is counted by KESAB is cigarette waste.

There have been efforts around the world to make cigarette companies responsible for the waste that they produce. Indeed, early last year I introduced a bill that would have set up a mechanism whereby these cigarette companies could be taken to task for the waste that they produce. In Spain, they have introduced regulations to require tobacco companies to do that. San Francisco now collects litter waste from retailers and charges tobacco companies for the cost associated with cleaning up, and the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority has initiated consultation on cigarette butts through introducing design standards to design out plastic tobacco filters.

This is calling on the Malinauskas government to take any action possible to ensure the tobacco industry is kept accountable for the waste they produce and, critically, to raise the matter with the national environment ministers at their next meeting to see if there can be a national coordinated approach to this issue.

Cigarette butt waste is terrible for our environment. Some interesting statistics for you: cigarette butts contain over 7,000 toxic chemicals, including arsenic, lead and nicotine. When these butts are littered, they leach these harmful substances into our waterways and soils. It is estimated that each cigarette butt can contaminate up to 40 litres of water. Water in South Australia, as we all know too well, is a precious resource, and it is not acceptable for that level of pollution to be in what little we have.

Beyond the leaching of chemicals, cigarette butts are also slow to degrade in the environment, and they release microplastics; that is, tiny plastic fibres that are almost impossible to remove once they are dispersed. These microplastics are ingested by our marine life, they work their way up the food chain, and they expose humans also to these harmful effects.

Cigarettes are not just terrible for community health. I know the Hon. Frank Pangallo is passionate about that issue and is raising that with some law reform ideas, and I am certainly very interested to learn more about that. As well as cracking down on the impact of cigarettes on community health, we also need to look at what we can do to make these big companies responsible for the terrible effect they have on the environment.

Just two years ago, The Guardian reported that microplastics had been found in human blood for the first time, with almost 80 per cent of people tested showing that microplastics were present. I find that startling. There are concerns that microplastics can lodge in human organs and other body systems, and we do not yet fully understand the health implications of that.

The environmental impact of cigarette waste is a problem that is only getting worse. However, as I indicated in my introductory remarks, some jurisdictions around the world are taking action. In Spain, regulations have now been developed that require cigarette companies to pay for the clean-up of the litter, and in San Francisco retailers are charging what is known as a litter tax, with the proceeds going towards the cost of collecting and disposing of cigarette waste. Here in Australia action is being taken on this in New South Wales.

We in the Greens would like to see the Malinauskas government follow the lead of these other jurisdictions and take action on this to ensure that we hold the feet of these big tobacco companies to the fire to ensure they take responsibility for the waste they produce.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.

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