DISCARDED cigarette butts and disposable vaping products are having "devastating" impacts on Scotland’s beaches and waters, according to leading public health and environment representatives.

The "horrific" environmental impacts of plastic cigarette filters, one of the most common forms of litter which is hitting Scotland's celebrated water and marine habitats are being spotlighted by health charity ASH Scotland, the Marine Conservation Society, Zero Waste Scotland, Scottish Water and Keep Scotland Beautiful to mark World No Tobacco Day today.

They say that almost all of the 3.65 billion cigarettes smoked in Scotland each year are made of the plastic cellulose acetate.

And the group say the plastic cigarette butts can take more than 10 years to decompose and leach thousands of toxic chemicals; polluting seas and harming marine life.

The environmental and health organisations have called on the Scottish Government to take world-leading legislative action to tackle the negative impacts of plastic cigarette filters and include the items in a single-use plastic ban.

They are also calling on Scots to bin the "offending" items and packaging after use.

In the last year, the Marine Conservation Society’s beach clean and litter surveys have seen volunteers remove more than 1,200 cigarette stubs from 129 beach cleans on Scottish shores.

The Herald:

Despite anti-plastic campaigns there has been little change from 2018, when the MCS-organised clean saw volunteers record over 1,500 cigarette stubs on 135 Scottish beaches.

The groups also claim there has also been a noticeable rise in disposable vaping products contributing to pollution across the country in recent months.

Sheila Duffy, chief executive of ASH Scotland, said: “We are asking people to consider the damage caused by discarded tobacco and related products. Cigarette filters continue to be a major source of plastics pollution with an estimated 600,000 kg of waste, enough to fill 50 bin lorries, threatening Scotland’s environment each year.

"We are also increasingly concerned about the noticeable escalation of littering and pollution risks caused by discarded single use disposable vaping products that contain single use plastics as well as toxic chemicals and battery components.”

The Marine Conservation Society said during last year’s Great British Beach Clean, an average of 9.4 cigarette stubs were recorded for every 100 metres of Scottish beach surveyed.

Catherine Gemmell, Scotland Conservation Officer for the society said: Cigarette stubs have consistently made it into the top 12 most common items polluting Scotland’s beaches over the last five years. Now, with more of our volunteers reporting vaping litter, action has to be taken to stop this rising tide.

"We’re calling on Scottish Government to take world-leading legislative action to tackle single-use plastic cigarette filters and smoking litter. We need to encourage and support action to ensure smoking related litter is properly disposed of, so it can’t damage the health of Scotland’s people and environment.”

The Herald:

In Keep Scotland Beautiful (KSB) annual surveys, as many as 63% of sites audited had cigarette stubs present, this was even higher in urban areas.

Catherine Gee, deputy chief executive at Keep Scotland Beautiful: “Cigarette litter is by far the most common littered item found in Scotland. With three out of five sites audited recording cigarette litter, increasing to four out of five sites in town/city centres, these tiny plastic litter items need to be eradicated – no ifs, no butts! We want it to be easy for people to do the right thing for our environment.”

It has been felt that single-use plastic cigarette filters – which the groups say do not benefit health – should be categorised alongside other single-use plastics such as plastic cotton-bud stems, cutlery, cups and lids.

Kim Young, litter and flytipping mat Zero Waste Scotland, said: “Any form of littering is an unacceptable, anti-social behaviour that is damaging to the environment and to the economy. Single-use items such as cigarette filters and vaping products can last in our environment for years and years, so it is vital that we make sure these are disposed of correctly.

"Prevention is always better than cure, and by changing our attitudes towards litter we can all make a positive difference. Ending Scotland’s throwaway society begins with the basics – not dropping items in our environment but in a bin where they belong.”

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Littering is illegal, unsightly and harmful to our communities, environment and wildlife – there is no excuse for this behaviour anywhere in Scotland.

“We have recently consulted on a new litter and fly tipping strategy for Scotland, and will be publishing the final strategy this year. Cigarette products are among the most common types of litter in Scotland and we are exploring whether we need to take additional action to tackle this issue.

“We’ve already taken action to ban some of the most harmful single-use plastics, including microbeads, plastic-stemmed cotton buds, cutlery, plates and straws. Last month (April) we launched a call for evidence on measures to reduce consumption of other single-use items including plastic tobacco filters, with the intention of using the findings to help reduce the impact they have on the Scottish environment.”