Spain enacts new anti-cigarette measures aimed at improving human health and environment

Spain’s government has implemented a set of new laws aimed at decreasing cigarette smoking and the amount of cigarette butts making their way into the ocean and other waterways.

One of the new measures, enacted on Friday, requires tobacco companies to pay for the cleanup of cigarette butts in public spaces in Spain.

The government has not specified the cleanup costs but is ready to hold tobacco manufacturers who sell their products in Spain to help fund the repercussions of cigarette smoking, both on human health and on the environment.

Experts say cigarette butts are the number one plastic pollutant found in the world’s waterways, with an estimated 4.5 trillion of the filters currently polluting the Earth worldwide. The small plastic parts contain several toxins including arsenic and nicotine that can have damaging effects on humans and wildlife.

Spain has banned cigarette smoking on 17.5 percent of its public beaches so far in an effort to tamp down the number of cigarette butts making their way into the ocean from beachgoers.

The new laws also cut down on plastic waste on a corporate level, implementing stricter parameters for food packaging to reduce the amount of single-use plastics being purchased in grocery stores. The country has also enacted a ban on plastic cutlery and flatware, as well as takeout containers and styrofoam as part of the new set of laws.