The Irish tobacco industry should pay a levy to compensate for the amount of litter caused by tobacco waste, Ash Ireland said this morning.
The anti-tobacco lobby group said close to 50 per cent of urban litter in Ireland is tobacco related and its clean-up places a burden on local authorities.
The organisation highlighted, in particular, the presence of cigarette butts around the country which are made from cellulose acetate, a type of plastic that can take up to 12 years to decompose.
It said an estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette ends discarded across the world each year are believed to kill millions of birds, fish and other animals and are sometimes eaten by young children.
Dr Angie Brown, chairwoman of Ash Ireland, said the organisation met Minister for the Environment John Gormley last November and their proposal to impose a levy on the tobacco industry was well received.
"Surely we should be applying the 'polluter pays' principle in this instance?" Ms Brown said. She suggested an environmental tax of 50 cent per pack of 20 cigarettes to be levied directly on the industry.
"The industry could then pass on that levy to their customer base, should they so wish," she said.
She said a levy would put the responsibility on the industry to pay for the problems caused by the product rather than putting all the responsibility on the consumer.
"Our Government is strapped for cash and the tobacco industry is hugely profitable, so why are our taxes being used to clear up the litter of such a wealthy industry?" Ms Brown asked. She called on Mr Gormley and the Government to introduce legislation so that the levy can be brought in.
