Land of Gauloises detritus

FRANCE

Corentin Lacoste

Libération

Cigarette butts are the plague of France, said Corentin Lacoste. Every year, smokers toss 30 billion of them on the streets—some 350 tons annually in Paris alone. Thanks to a 2008 law that banned smoking in public places, more people started smoking outdoors, and butts now “litter the ground at the entrance of hospitals, train stations, and office buildings, as well as our parks and beaches.” This trash is more than unsightly; it’s also dangerous, because filters leach toxins that contaminate the environment. Authorities in Paris tried to encourage people to throw their cigarettes in proper bins by raising the fine for tossing one on the ground to nearly $80. But it has had no effect. Few people are actually caught in the act, and the burdens of enforcement and cleanup are on the city. “It’s primarily the taxpayers who pay for cigarette butts, through their local taxes,” says junior environment minister Brune Poirson. She plans to change that. Poirson wants cigarette-makers to pay for cigarette disposal, and has given industry leaders three months to come up with options. British American Tobacco, for example, has proposed providing free pocket ashtrays at tobacco shops. For now, though, “the butts continue to poison our ground and water.”