Keep Cigarette Butts Off the Ground
Approximately 36.5 billion cigarettes were sold in Taiwan in 2025. If one-quarter of cigarette butts are littered, it is estimated that more than 9.1 billion cigarette butts are released into the environment each year.
The chemical mixture released from cigarette butts contains toxic and carcinogenic substances. When improperly discarded, these pollutants may enter soil, rivers, lakes, and oceans through drains or stormwater channels, affecting the environment and marine ecosystems. They may then enter the food chain, posing an ecological threat comparable to that of plastic waste.
The problem of cigarette butt littering continues to exist in everyday environments. According to statistics from recent years, cigarette butt littering cases account for approximately three-quarters of all violations under Article 27, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 1 of the Waste Disposal Act (the Act) nationwide. Under the Act, individuals who litter cigarette butts or engage in similar acts may be fined between NT$1,200 and NT$100,000.
To prevent cigarette butts from spreading throughout the environment, the Ministry of Environment has launched the “National Cigarette Butts Off the Ground Initiative.” The initiative promotes proper cigarette butt disposal through six major strategies, including changing the culture, reduction at the source, inspection and enforcement, environmental cleanup, public-private collaboration, and enhanced research. These are further supported by 21+N measures. Together, these efforts aim to create a cleaner and healthier living environment and a cleaner and more sustainable ecosystem.
The Ministry of Environment is promoting the "National Cigarette Butts Off the Ground Program" mainly through six major strategies and 21+N measures: "Changing Culture," "Source Reduction," "Inspection and Enforcement," "Environmental Cleanup," "Public-Private Cooperation," and "Strengthening Research." The aim is to keep our living environment clean and healthy and our ecological environment clean and sustainable.
The effort begins with cultural change, with the hope that smokers will develop good habits at the source: fully extinguishing cigarettes, not smoking while walking, and throwing cigarette butts into trash cans. Change is promoted by shaping social norms, encouraging mutual reminders, and working together in practice.
Taiwan's tobacco product sales in 2025 were about 36.5 billion sticks. If one-quarter of cigarette butts are littered, more than 9.1 billion cigarette butts may enter the environment each year. Discarded cigarette butts consist of three parts: residual tobacco, filters, and paper wrappers. Filters are made of cellulose acetate, a durable artificial plastic that does not biodegrade after being discarded in the environment and may take 10 years or longer to break down. Residual tobacco contains more than 7,000 harmful chemicals, including nicotine, arsenic, lead, copper, chromium, cadmium, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The chemical mixture released contains toxic and carcinogenic substances. When these substances enter soil, water bodies, lakes, and oceans, toxins leach from cigarette butts, affecting the environment and marine ecosystems. Research has also shown that smoked cigarette butts and nicotine leachate can be lethal to fish. One cigarette butt in one liter of water can kill half the fish, allowing toxins to enter the food chain and harm both the environment and public health.
When cigarette butts are carelessly discarded, they can travel through drains or storm sewers, then through waterways and rivers to beaches or the ocean. They pollute the environment and are sometimes eaten by seabirds or marine mammals, posing an ecological threat comparable to plastic waste.
Cigarette butt litter remains common in daily environments, affecting city appearance and environmental quality while continuing to harm rivers, oceans, and ecosystems.
- Data Source: Division of Environmental Sanitation
- Publish Date: 2026-08-13
- Update Date: 2026-08-14