All Indians Matter - Cigarette butts are the most littered form of plastic in India

Bingepods - VideosAugust 26, 202200:07:10

All Indians Matter - Cigarette butts are the most littered form of plastic in India

Did you know that, every year, 100 billion cigarette butts get dumped in the landfills of India, accounting for 26,454 tons (https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/the-environmental-challenge-posed-by-cigarette-butt-litter-101610204964038.html) of waste? Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic that takes almost 10 years to completely decompose. In fact, such filters are probably the world’s most littered form of plastic with close to 4.5 trillion butts polluting the environment every year. This litter finds its way to our oceans and the microplastics go deep into the ground, posing a serious danger to land and sea life and contaminating our food and water. Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter.

Environmental challenges posed by cigarette butts: https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/the-environmental-challenge-posed-by-cigarette-butt-litter-101610204964038.html (https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/the-environmental-challenge-posed-by-cigarette-butt-litter-101610204964038.html)

What the WHO says about cigarette butts: https://www.thehindu.com/society/buttrush-is-an-initiative-to-collect-harmful-cigarette-butts-and-send-them-for-recycling/article65213841.ece#:~:text=In%20truth%2C%20cigarette%20butts%2C%20the,contains%20over%207%2C000%20toxic%20chemicals (https://www.thehindu.com/society/buttrush-is-an-initiative-to-collect-harmful-cigarette-butts-and-send-them-for-recycling/article65213841.ece#:~:text=In%20truth%2C%20cigarette%20butts%2C%20the,contains%20over%207%2C000%20toxic%20chemicals).

EU ban on microplastics stubs out cigarette butt pollution: https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/30-05-2022-eu-ban-on-microplastics-stubs-out-cigarette-butt-pollution (https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/30-05-2022-eu-ban-on-microplastics-stubs-out-cigarette-butt-pollution)

UN partnership aims to combat microplastics in cigarettes: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/02/1111072 (https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/02/1111072)

Episode link: https://play.headliner.app/episode/10867238

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