The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) said yesterday smokers may be required to carry personal portable ashtrays to dispose of their cigarette butts before the end of the year.
Cigarettes are not only harmful to health, they also pollute the environment, an official said.
Citing a “conservative” estimate, Yuan Shaw-ying (袁紹英), director-general of the EPA's Department of Environmental Sanitation and Toxic Substance Management, said that more than 10 billion cigarette butts litter the nation's streets, parks and gutters each year.
Such a large number is a product of the nation's high number of smokers, with about 18 percent of Taiwanese — or 4.2 million people — being regular smokers, Yuan said.
“Cigarette butt littering is a serious problem in many countries. For example, about 122 tonnes of cigarette butts are collected daily on the UK's streets, which make up about two-thirds of the nation's street garbage,” he said.
Taiwan has a similar problem, especially after the implementation of the Tobacco Hazard Prevention and Control Act (菸害防制法), Yuan said.
“We have received complaints from people that the number of cigarette butts littering public places where smoking is not banned, such as parks, has increased,” Yuan said.
This may be because smokers eager to finish their cigarettes before they enter places where smoking is prohibited just throw the butts outside the non-smoking area, he said.
The EPA will ask local environmental protection bureaus to conduct public education programs on smoking and littering and draft regulations to fine those who litter, Yuan said.
“For example, in Japan, small personal portable ash-trays are prevalent and fashionable, and made in many different styles … We are looking into existing laws that will allow us to mandate people bring their own ashtrays to reduce littering,” Yuan said.
Besides fining smokers up to NT$6,000 for littering, local governments may also consider penalizing people who walk and smoke at the same time, he added.
But the most effective way to reduce cigarette butt littering is to help smokers quit, Yuan said.
“Tobacco is listed by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as a group 1 carcinogen, meaning it definitely causes cancer. With less people smoking, not only can we reduce waste, we can also improve public health,” he said.
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