It's time to leverage Article 18 of the #fctc and the parallel #plasticstreaty discussions in banning filtera and/or, demand industry foots the bill.

It also examines options for countries: 🚫 Ban filters & single-use plastics 💰 Make tobacco companies pay for waste ⚠️ Classify tobacco waste as hazardous +

📢 #COP11 is coming! In November, Parties to the WHO FCTC will meet in Geneva to review progress and strengthen global tobacco control policies. Tobacco waste is on the agenda, following up from COP10. A new report highlights the environmental and health risks of discarded tobacco products. 🧵

After 11 days of talks in Geneva, countries were once again unable to reach an agreement on a Global #PlasticsTreaty. Delegates remain deadlocked over issues that have stalled progress for years:

Wow.💥 1 million used cigarette butts, packed into plastic bottles, now stand in front of the Palais des Nations in Geneva – where negotiators are meeting for the UN Plastics Treaty. The image was shared by @ash.org on their website. Photo by Morgan Cox.

Wow.💥 1 million used cigarette butts, packed into plastic bottles, now stand in front of the Palais des Nations in Geneva – where negotiators are meeting for the UN Plastics Treaty. The image was shared by @ash.org on their website. Photo by Morgan Cox.

The latest round of UN #PlasticsTreaty talks has started in Geneva, but there are key issues with the draft text: 🧵 @whofctc.bsky.social @unfairtobacco.bsky.social @ash.org @healthpolicywatch.bsky.social

Experts stress that the Global #PlasticsTreaty must include a BAN on cigarette filters to reduce plastic pollution and protect our oceans. The next round of negotiations begins this August in Geneva. Learn more: extranet.who.int/fctcapps/sit... #WHOFCTC #FCTC_Art_18 #INC5_2 #CigaretteButts

Experts stress that the Global #PlasticsTreaty must include a BAN on cigarette filters to reduce plastic pollution and protect our oceans. The next round of negotiations begins this August in Geneva. Learn more: extranet.who.int/fctcapps/sit... #WHOFCTC #FCTC_Art_18 #INC5_2 #CigaretteButts

In Brazil, the tobacco industry is mobilizing to try to interfere with #COP11. A bill in Rio Grande do Sul – the country’s top tobacco-producing state – seeks to label tobacco as of “economic, social, and cultural interest.” The goal is to pass it before COP11 to support the sector’s positioning. +

In Brazil, the tobacco industry is mobilizing to try to interfere with #COP11. A bill in Rio Grande do Sul – the country’s top tobacco-producing state – seeks to label tobacco as of “economic, social, and cultural interest.” The goal is to pass it before COP11 to support the sector’s positioning. +

The ban on single-use #vapes was introduced to reduce Jersey’s waste. Retailers have until February next year to sell existing product stock. www.bailiwickexpress.com/news/single-...

#WorldEnvironmentDay 2025 calls for collective action to tackle plastic pollution. Let us make sure that #cigarettebutts as the most littered items worldwide, get included in the UN plastic treaty! #BeatPlasticPollution #PlasticTreaty @ash.org @greenpeace.eu @wwf.eu @fctc-kh-fiocruz.bsky.social

BAT Bangladesh has been ordered to vacate its head office and factory in Mohakhali, Dhaka. The Supreme Court rejected the company’s appeal to extend its land lease. The Bangladesh Environment Movement had long called for the plant’s removal due to its impacts. 🧵

Learn more: extranet.who.int/fctcapps/fct... #WHOFCTC #FCTC_Art_17 #notobacco #bidi #beedi #HumanRights #alternativelivelihoods

Learn more: extranet.who.int/fctcapps/fct... #WHOFCTC #FCTC_Art_17 #notobacco #bidi #beedi #HumanRights #alternativelivelihoods

In India, 4.5 million people work in the production of bidis – hand-rolled cigarettes made of loose tobacco wrapped in dry leaves. A large portion of this work is carried out by women and children; bidi manufacturing is highly labor-intensive and poses health risks. 🧵

In India, 4.5 million people work in the production of bidis – hand-rolled cigarettes made of loose tobacco wrapped in dry leaves. A large portion of this work is carried out by women and children; bidi manufacturing is highly labor-intensive and poses health risks. 🧵

New publication on Microplastics and the impacts of the tobacco production chain 🔽 extranet.who.int/fctcapps/fct... Published in English and Portuguese by CETAB/Fiocruz #microplastics #tobaccoindustry

Microplastics have gained increasing attention from researchers, but their pollution and health impacts are rarely linked to the #TobaccoIndustry – often limited to mentions of discarded cigarette filters. 🚬 In this report, our colleague Milena Maciel highlights how microplastics are...+

Microplastics have gained increasing attention from researchers, but their pollution and health impacts are rarely linked to the #TobaccoIndustry – often limited to mentions of discarded cigarette filters. 🚬 In this report, our colleague Milena Maciel highlights how microplastics are...+

Indonesia is one of the world’s top #tobacco leaf producers. A recent study explored how tobacco production affected the agricultural economy in Lampung — a province where tobacco is commonly grown — between 2016 and 2022. Here’s what it found: 🧵

Updates on the Tobacco-Free Farms Initiative: 🌱Over 9,300 farmers in Kenya shifted to alternative crops (beans, soy, etc.), generating over $2 million USD in revenue. 📈In Zambia, 95% of participating households grew at least two alternative crops in the first year. +

Cigarette waste and superbugs 🦠:: A new preprint in “Environmental Health Perspectives” reveals that pollutants from cigarette smoke and waste can fuel the growth and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria – both in the environment and in smokers’ lungs. 🧵

Tobacco farmers are exposed to health issues such as Green Tobacco Sickness and pesticide poisoning. Child labor also remains widespread in tobacco-growing regions, exposing children to the same risks as adults. +

Cigarette waste and superbugs 🦠:: A new preprint in “Environmental Health Perspectives” reveals that pollutants from cigarette smoke and waste can fuel the growth and spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria – both in the environment and in smokers’ lungs. 🧵

Spain’s Ministry of Ecological Transition has issued a Royal Decree making the #TobaccoIndustry responsible for cigarette butt cleanup. While this may seem like a win for tobacco control and for the environment...+

"any organization managing the cleanup of cigarette butts and tobacco pollution must be independent of tobacco manufacturers, with the latter’s contribution being limited to financing the system." @ashorg.bsky.social @fctc-kh-fiocruz.bsky.social @bmj.com   blogs.bmj.com/tc/2025/03/1...

In #Malawi, over 7,000 tobacco farmers, including their wives and 3,000 children, are suing BAT and Imperial Brands. They claim they have been impoverished, trapped in debt, and caught in a cycle of poverty, while the companies profited from #ChildLabor, worker exploitation, and +

In #Malawi, over 7,000 tobacco farmers, including their wives and 3,000 children, are suing BAT and Imperial Brands. They claim they have been impoverished, trapped in debt, and caught in a cycle of poverty, while the companies profited from #ChildLabor, worker exploitation, and +

A new report by The Sustainable Development Initiative and STOP reveals how crop diversification programs led by large #tobacco companies are failing tobacco farmers in Malawi:🧵

A new report by The Sustainable Development Initiative and STOP reveals how crop diversification programs led by large #tobacco companies are failing tobacco farmers in Malawi:🧵

3/3 Es gibt so viele Beispiele auf unserer Weltkarte von Farmer*innen die den Tabakausstieg geschafft haben. Das FCTC Knowledge Hub für Artikel 17+18 liefert so viel Input und Analysen, die für die Umsetzung genutzt werden können! 👉 @fctc-kh-fiocruz.bsky.social 👉 unfairtobacco.org/weltkarte-de...

It’s the 20th anniversary of the WHO FCTC! As the first global public health treaty under @WHO, the WHO FCTC unites 183 Parties to combat the global tobacco epidemic. Over two decades, it has kept tobacco control on the global agenda, fostered cooperation, and guided national action. +

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📢BREAKING: Brazilian Justice fails to resolve farmer’s case against multinational tobacco company. “I hope to find this so-called Justice one day. It’s not fair that this burden is mine alone", says Lidia do Prado, who has been fighting Alliance One since 2015. +

📢BREAKING: Brazilian Justice fails to resolve farmer’s case against multinational tobacco company. “I hope to find this so-called Justice one day. It’s not fair that this burden is mine alone", says Lidia do Prado, who has been fighting Alliance One since 2015. +

📢 NEW RESEARCH: How do #microplastics in cigarette butts affect human cells? 🧵 Researchers tested the impact of cigarette filter fibers on human immune cells by measuring the release of two key proteins – TNFα and IL-6 – after exposure to the fibers. Why?

📢 NEW RESEARCH: How do #microplastics in cigarette butts affect human cells? 🧵 Researchers tested the impact of cigarette filter fibers on human immune cells by measuring the release of two key proteins – TNFα and IL-6 – after exposure to the fibers. Why?

🧵E-cigarettes are hazardous waste, and disposing of them in regular trash or regular recycling is dangerous. A recent study in the USA surveyed over 1,000 adolescents and young adults that used disposables: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.... It found that:

Crop diversification in tobacco-growing areas can play an important role in curbing biodiversity loss. A new report by Germano Pollnow, a researcher at CETAB and a member of our Knowledge Hub, outlines a project in a southern Brazilian city focused on sustainable diversification. 🧵 📸 Sam Fentress

Crop diversification in tobacco-growing areas can play an important role in curbing biodiversity loss. A new report by Germano Pollnow, a researcher at CETAB and a member of our Knowledge Hub, outlines a project in a southern Brazilian city focused on sustainable diversification. 🧵 📸 Sam Fentress

76 years ago, on December 10, 1948, the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of #HumanRights, setting out fundamental human rights to be universally protected. ⚠️The tobacco industry violates many of them, including within its production chain:

But a large body of scientific evidence shows cigarette filters DO NOT reduce the health risks of smoking. Filters are primarily made of plastic. They cause serious environmental harm, and should be banned. 🚫 Learn more: extranet.who.int/fctcapps/fct...

Many people oppose banning filtered cigarettes, thinking they make smoking safer. The truth: They don’t. 🔎 Based on data from the 2022 International #Tobacco Control Four Country Smoking and Vaping Survey, researchers examined opposition to banning filtered cigarettes, 🔻

Plastics Treaty: Countries fail to reach agreement reuters.com/business/env... "The most divisive issues included capping plastic production, managing plastic products and chemicals of concern, and financing to help developing countries implement the treaty."

"So, the world wants an end to plastic pollution. The world needs an end to plastic pollution. I ask you to deliver an instrument this week that puts us on the road to delivering just that, for thousands of days, months and years to come." www.unep.org/news-and-sto...

🌍 GLOBAL PLASTICS TREATY: The 5th Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (#INC5) session opened yesterday in Busan, Republic of Korea, to finalize the text. 🚬Will it be able to address the issue of plastic #cigarette filters? 🚭 Trillions of plastic #cigarettebutts pollute the planet yearly.

We are the Knowledge Hub for Articles 17 and 18 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Here, we focus on the tobacco industry's environmental impacts, working and health conditions in the production chain, and livelihood alternatives for tobacco workers.