Environmental Minister Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) together with Culture Minister Li Yuan (李遠) officially launched the “National Alliance for Cigarette Butt Reduction and Clean Environment” initiative on Wednesday. The move, which kicked off in time for World Environment Day, hopes to start a new cultural movement through 6 key strategies to clean up Taiwan’s streets.
According to 2023 statistics, if just a quarter of last year’s cigarettes were littered, it would equal nine billion cigarette butts. While the filter itself contains plastic that takes over a decade to decay, the leftover tobacco also contains over four thousand harmful chemicals such as arsenic, nicotine, lead, copper and more. When discarded, those chemicals can leach into the soil and water supply, affecting local communities from food-chains to everyday human health.
These frightening statistics are what led Peng to partner with Li, along with several other environmental organizations, to announce the initiative targeting cigarette butt waste. Peng states that smoking and littering cigarette butts are a by-product of cultural behavior. In order for change to occur, we must also target the culture behind actions such as treating Taiwan’s gutters as ashtrays.
Environmental Management Administration Director Hsu Ming-Yen (顏旭明) detailed the six strategies in the plan. They include: changing the culture, source reduction, inspection and enforcement, environmental clean-up, public-private collaboration, and strengthening research.