Juliet Jacob Ochenje
The African Tobacco Control Alliance has named Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan, Mozambique, Kenya and Ethiopia as major contributors to environmental pollution in the continent.
According to a press statement released on X by the African Tobacco Control Alliance on Monday, most of the pollution come from plastics in cigarette butts and packaging.
it stated that the economic cost of environmental pollution is estimated at US$26 billion every year or US$186 billion every 10 years.
The statement reads, “The costs of environmental pollution caused by plastics in cigarette butts and packaging amounts to an estimated US$26 billion every year or US$186 billion every 10 years adjusted for inflation in waste management and marine ecosystem damage worldwide, according to data analysis from the Global Centre for Good Governance in Tobacco Control, published online in the journal Tobacco Control.
“According to the analysis, in Africa, countries with the highest smoking rate contribute greatest to the cigarette filter pollution costs.
“These include South Africa, followed by Nigeria, Sudan, Mozambique, Kenya and Ethiopia. Although seemingly dwarfed by the overall impact of tobacco, these costs are not trivial they accumulate and are preventable,” the research disclosed.
Despite the increasing ban on single-use plastics worldwide, the significant contribution of tobacco-related plastic pollution has been overlooked, with cigarette filters, a primary culprit, ranking as the most prevalent littered item globally.
“The researchers estimated that the annual economic cost of cigarette plastics waste is around US$26 billion, made up of US$20.7 billion in marine ecosystem damage and US$5 billion in waste management costs, adding up to US$186 billion over 10 years.
“Although this amount is small compared with the annual economic losses from tobacco (US$1.4trillion per year) and may appear insignificant compared with the 8 million deaths attributable to tobacco each year, these environmental costs should not be downplayed as they are accumulating and are preventable.”
