A British man has been fined over ₹ 55,000 for throwing a cigarette butt on the road in front of council staff, according to Metro News.
The media outlet further reported that the smoking individual, Alex Davis, was stopped by the street enforcement officers and given a fixed penalty notice for littering. He dropped his cigarette on the road at Thornbury, Gloucestershire, 20 metres in front of council officials, at which point he strolled away.
Initially, the man was ordered to pay a ₹ 15,000 fine, but he did not comply. He was then ordered to pay a fine including a victim surcharge totaling ₹ 55,603.
“Discarded cigarette ends are one of the most common forms of littering that our Street Enforcement Officers encounter, especially on our high streets. This man was caught in the act of littering and accepted his actions, but made no attempt to pay the resulting fine, so the matter was brought before the court,” South Gloucestershire Council’s cabinet member for environmental enforcement, Councillor Rachael Hunt, said.
“Cigarette ends are unsightly, and it can take between 18 months and 10 years for their component parts to decompose,” he added.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), cigarette butts are the most discarded waste item worldwide, accounting for approximately 766.6 million kilograms of toxic trash each year. It is also the most common plastic litter on beaches, making marine ecosystems more susceptible to microplastics leakages.
Every year, the tobacco industry produces six trillion cigarettes that are consumed by one billion smokers worldwide. These cigarettes contain filters mainly composed of microplastics known as cellulose acetate fibres. When improperly disposed of, cigarette butts are broken down by factors such as sunlight and moisture and release microplastics, heavy metals and many other chemicals, impacting ecosystems’ health and services.
