How should tobacco companies pay for their pollution in Philippines?

Tobacco: Threat to the Environment

Tobacco products damage the environment at every stage of their lifecycle:

Cultivation: Clearing lands and burning plant residues lead to deforestation while agrochemicals/pesticides pollute waterways and poison fishes

Curing: Burning firewood to cure leaves causes deforestation and water scarcity.

Processing & Manufacturing:Processes involve use of toxic chemicals, and emission of greenhouse gases & other waste.

Distribution: Greenhouse gases are emitted during transport.

Use: Toxic residue from tobacco smoke lingers in the environment (indoor particulate matter concentrations are 10x higher than diesel car exhausts). Cigarettes are also the most common cause of accidental fires and toxic third hand smoke materials pollute the environment.

Disposal:
Waste Management

• Cigarette butts are some of the most littered items on earth and tobacco product packaging yields 2 million tons of solid waste annually.

Marine Pollution

• Over 1/3 of cigarette butt litter wind up in the oceans and 19-38% of total debris in ocean clean-ups are cigarette butts.
• Environmental toxins leach from butts inducing long term harm to marine life.

Read more here: https://healthjustice.ph/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Customized-Fact-Sheet-PH.pdf