Did you know?

The Last Beach Cleanup recently launched a lawsuit against Terracycle and eight other companies including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Late July Snacks, Gerber, L’Oreal, Tom’s of Maine, and Clorox over misleading recycling claims and product labels. For more information, check out this factsheet created by the Beyond Plastics Campaign which goes into detail about the harmful environmental impacts of Recycle By Mail programs. Although not included in this infographic, programs like Terracycle also claim to recycle discarded Tobacco Product Waste (TPW). Contrary to popular belief, cigarette filters are not made of cotton, but of a non-biodegradable plastic called cellulose acetate. TPW continuously breaks down into smaller microplastics and leaches over 7000 chemicals into the environment.

Recycle By Mail companies like Terracycle claim to turn discarded cigarette filters into “useful” items like park benches and picnic tables. Do you really want your children sitting on a park bench made of toxic forever chemicals? Claims to recycle a product that leaches toxic waste and harmful microplastics into the environment is corporate greenwashing!

This America Recycles Day, let’s spread awareness about the harmful environmental impacts of corporate greenwashing in the tobacco industry and beyond.