Will smokers have to pay an eco-contribution on cigarettes to pay for cigarette butts? Tobacco companies are received this Thursday by the Secretary of State in charge of the ecological transition. They have three months to propose solutions.
RESPONSIBLE SMOKERS WITH AN ECO-TAX ON CIGARETTES?
Butts, an environmental scourge. According to the government, 30 billion would be thrown away each year, of which more than 40% in the wild. A figure that would be even lower in the eyes of environmentalists: Jean-Vincent Placé, chairman of the EELV group in the Senate, estimates that 70 billion cigarette butts are discarded each year.
When we know that this piece of cigarette contains 4000 chemicals, we can easily imagine the harmful consequences for the ecology. " One butt contaminates several hundred liters of water and takes more than 10 years to degrade“, Explains the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Faced with this gloomy observation, Brune Poirson wishes to make tobacco manufacturers face up to their responsibilities. She will receive on this subject the manufacturers of cigarettes, one by one, this Thursday, June 14. "I am waiting for clear proposals for voluntary commitments to fight against these nuisances in a short timeframe", said the secretary of state in a statement.
For the moment, the communities are responsible for collecting and sorting this waste. At the end of the day, it is therefore the taxpayer who foots the bill.
PUSHING TOBACCO INDUSTRIALS TO MANAGE THE PROBLEM!
The government does not really intend to give them a choice. A meeting is already scheduled for next September "to take stock of the actions 
considered. The government, in the absence of effective commitments, will instruct the deployment of a extended producer responsibility“, Specifies the Secretary of State in charge of ecological transition.
Clearly, it threatens to introduce an eco-participation on cigarettes. If the State refuses to name it a “tax”, it is indeed a financial contribution aimed at paying the cost of recycling and depollution. Currently, eco-participations are flexible, that is to say that their amount varies according to the environmental impact. They appear clearly on in-store labels, this is particularly the case for cell phones, household appliances and plastic bottles. For the moment, tobacco escaped it but the government would henceforth consider "taxing" a euro cent per packet.
Source : Lci.fr
