It鈥檚 a PR challenge on a par with sprucing up the black death鈥檚 public image. But for the people marketing tobacco there is a glimmer of hope in the form of biodegradable cigarette filters that are supposedly better for smokers as well as for the environment.
The compostable filters are made from food-grade starch, the carbohydrate polymer in foods such as potatoes and rice. The British company that is developing them, Southampton-based Stanelco, which already makes biodegradable packaging, says it is in talks with cigarette manufacturers in Europe, North America and Asia about using them to replace existing filters.
鈥淭here is no safe cigarette, but that doesn鈥檛 mean that they should not be cleaner and greener,鈥� says Howard White, Stanelco鈥檚 president. Stanelco says the butts will decompose in just two months, whereas existing filters made of the synthetic polymer cellulose acetate never biodegrade, creating 500,000 tonnes of pollution a year around the world. The company also claims the new filters should be better for smokers鈥� health as any fragments that end up in the lung will degrade more quickly, although it has not published any studies to back this up.
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Not surprisingly, opponents of smoking insist that giving up remains the best option. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 alter the fact that the main product is still going to be as deadly as ever,鈥� says Amanda Sandford, research manager at the British campaign group Action on Smoking and Health. And just because greener butts will decompose, doesn鈥檛 mean they can simply be thrown away, she says. 鈥淲e need to change the mindset of smokers so butts are disposed of properly.鈥�
