12-08-2025
Youth groups call for global ban on "toxic" cigarette filters amid plastics treaty talks
On International Youth Day 2025, youth-led environmental and health advocacy groups from around the world urged negotiators of the global plastics treaty to impose a full ban on cigarette filters and to align the agreement with the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC).
In a joint open letter addressed to Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5.2) Chair Ambassador Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the groups warned that failing to reference the WHO FCTC in the treaty risks creating loopholes the tobacco industry could exploit to avoid accountability.
The signatories — the Global Youth Voices (GYV), Children and Youth Major Group (CYMG) to the United Nations Environment Programme, Hidden Plastic, and River Warrior Indonesia — pressed negotiators to prohibit all cigarette filters, whether plastic or not, citing their toxicity, lack of proven health benefit, and environmental harm.
'Cigarette filters are toxic, non-essential single-use plastics with no proven health benefit. They are designed to mislead people into believing smoking is safer and are among the most littered items globally,' GYV spokespersons said.
The youth coalition also called for:
A formal treaty reference to the WHO FCTC and rejection of tobacco industry involvement in environmental policymaking;
An outright ban on cigarette filters, including so-called 'biodegradable' or 'eco-friendly' alternatives;
Exclusion of the tobacco industry from Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes; and
Financial liability for the environmental damage caused by tobacco products.
The groups expressed concern that current treaty language, which only targets 'filters made with plastic,' leaves room for misleading substitutes promoted by tobacco companies.
They also accused the industry of using greenwashing tactics and CSR campaigns to deflect responsibility, practices denounced at the 10th Conference of the Parties (COP 10) to the WHO FCTC.
The statement stressed that the global tobacco lobby has a history of influencing policy, including environmental negotiations, and is actively seeking to shape the plastics treaty in its favor.
'This is not just about plastic,' the GYV spokespersons said. 'It's about public health, accountability, and our future,' he added. — Sherylin Untalan/RF, GMA Integrated News
