Tobacco firms could be made to pay £40m for clean up bill

The Government is considering a plan to force big tobacco companies to pay the £40 million pound annual cost of cleaning up discarded cigarette butts.

“We are exploring how cigarette companies can be held fully accountable for the unsightly scourge of litter created by their products,” junior environment minister Rebecca Pow said in a statement on Tuesday.

Ministers are considering regulating the industry to ensure it pays the full disposal costs of cigarette litter.

The ministry cited research which showed that smoking related litter is the most prevalent form of litter in England, making up 68% of all littered items and found on around 80% of surveyed sites.

Cigarette filters are especially harmful because of their high content of plastic fibres and the toxic chemicals from the cigarette itself.

Butts can stay in the environment for many years and release these chemicals into the air, soil and water, harming plants and wildlife.

Imposing a tax on single-use plastic – which a cigarette butt effectively is – would be made possible by a new power currently being legislated for in the Environment Bill.