If smoking a cigarette only takes a few minutes, its effects on the environment persist over time. A recent infographic shows that the tobacco industry is very polluting.
In the world, more than a billion people consume tobacco in different forms. With a phenomenal number of consumers, the tobacco industry represents a significant financial windfall. Unfortunately, it is very polluting, as an infographic published by the German daily newspaper Die Zeit reminds us. and translated by Courrier International in March 2020.
Between the resources needed to manufacture cigarettes, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and the substances released as waste, the effects on the environment are sustainable . The infographic visible below is based in particular on the World Health Organization (WHO) 2019 Report on the Global Tobacco Epidemic.
The infographic is about tobacco manufacturing. In 2014, tobacco cultivation was spread over 5.3 million hectares of land . This required energy consumption estimated at 62.2 million gigajoules. In addition, the impact of smoking on the environment is astronomical. Indeed, a person smoking about twenty cigarettes a day for fifty years is responsible for the consumption of 1.4 million liters of water.
GHG emissions related to the tobacco industry are also very important. Indeed, the latter is responsible for the emission of 84 million tons of CO2 per year . The infographic also evokes the degradation of cigarette butts made of cellulose acetate. Since filters take years to break down, they are found almost everywhere on the planet. In fact, they are a real problem when it comes to ocean pollution.
Remember in passing that cigarettes contain more than 5,000 harmful substances ! However, some are particularly cold in the back like arsenic and other heavy metals such as chromium, cadmium or even lead. Other components are considered carcinogenic such as benzene and formaldehyde. In addition to the impacts on human health, this is also about heavy pollution of soil and surface water.
Concerning cigarette butts thrown on the ground, some countries do not skimp on the means to force people to be more vigilant. In Brussels (Belgium), throwing a cigarette butt on the ground can result in a fine of 200 euros. However, this is nothing compared to the law in Singapore, the most severe country on the subject. Indeed, the infographic evokes a fine equivalent to 6,400 euros for a cigarette butt thrown on the ground.
In 2015, a Singaporean threw 34 cigarette butts from his apartment window. As a result, the person concerned was fined a record about 13,000 euros ! The latter was also forced to perform community service, that is to say, to clean the public space for five days.
