(Credit: Statista / Weforum.org)
About 4.5 trillion cigarette filters are discarded every year, most containing cellulose acetate, a plastic that can take 10 years to biodegrade, according to an article on Weforum.org. Now a recent study, No More Butts, is shining a spotlight on the environmental threat posed by this pollution.
According to the report, when these filters were introduced more than 60 years ago initial tests showed they helped to reduce tar from cigarettes. But it concludes that claims of the health benefits of plastic filters have since been dismissed.
