A French government official has announced that the government will impose new regulations on cigarette litter, if tobacco companies do not formally commit to reducing the amount of litter caused by cigarette butts within the next three months, Reuters reported.

Brune Poirson, junior environment minister, said that a single filter can pollute hundreds of litres of water because filters contain chemicals, and the decomposition process of filters can take more than a decade.
According to the French government, of the approximately 30 billion cigarette butts discarded in France annually, more than four in ten are found on beaches, in forests, rivers and the ocean. Also, 350 tonnes of cigarette butt litter is collected by the city of Paris annually, even though there is a EUR 68 fine for any person caught littering in the city, according to the report.
The ministry has not released information on what the new measures on cigarette butt litter will consist of, but one source said “that a mandatory recycling scheme was an option”, Reuters reported.
Poirson commented on the proposed regulation. He said, “If no effective commitments are proposed by September, the government will force the industry to get involved in the collection and elimination of its waste.”