Cigarette Waste in Popular Beaches in Thailand: High Densities that Demand Environmental Action

Abstract

Thailand, like all nations, has a responsibility to initiate environmental actions to preserve marine environments. Low- and middle-income countries face difficulties implementing feasible strategies to fulfill this ambitious goal. To contribute to the revitalization of Thailand’s marine ecosystems, we investigated the level of tobacco product waste (TPW) on Thailand’s public beaches. We conducted a cross-sectional observational survey at two popular public beaches. Research staff collected cigarette butts over two eight-hour days walking over a one-kilometer stretch of beach. We also compiled and analyzed data on butts collected from sieved sand at 11 popular beaches throughout Thailand’s coast, with 10 samples of sieved sand collected per beach. Our survey at two beaches yielded 3067 butts in lounge areas, resulting in a mean butt density of 0.44/m2. At the 11 beaches, sieved sand samples yielded butt densities ranging from 0.25 to 13.3/m2, with a mean butt density of 2.26/m2 (SD = 3.78). These densities show that TPW has become a serious problem along Thailand’s coastline. Our findings are comparable with those in other countries. We report on government and civil society initiatives in Thailand that are beginning to address marine TPW. The solution will only happen when responsible parties, especially and primarily tobacco companies, undertake actions to eliminate TPW.

Seasonal comparison of beach litter on Mediterranean coastal sites (Alicante, SE Spain)

“…Principal beach litter composition expressed as number of total items per group(s), are presented in Table 1. Much of these items are discarded by beach users, in particular cigarette butts, which was the most abundant item in this paper's research, as has also been observed at other bathing areas by Martinez-Ribes et al ( 2007), Oigman-Pszczol & Creed ( 2007), Topçu et al (2013), Williams et al (2016b) and Kungskulniti et al (2018). Specifically, the number of cigarette butts recorded in spring (4,607 units) tripled in summer (12,843 units).…”

“…cigarette butts. Despite their small dimensions, they can cause multiple harmful impacts, as evidenced by Kungskulniti et al (2018). Some studies present data on litter weight, but this can lead to confusion due to the difference in size and type of material for each item.…”

Estimating and mapping cigarette butt littering in urban environments: A GIS approach

“…Other studies registered a high volume of discarded cigarette butts in these environments. (17) While we found some examples of smoke-free beaches in Spain, (42) this is not universal. Still, the results found in previous studies suggest that beaches may be an important site for policy intervention.…”

“…Moreover, these studies focused their results on the identification of types of places that may constitute hotspots for cigarette butt litter in outdoor environments (i.e. beaches, (17) parks, (18) public transportation stops (14) or hospitality venues, (19)). However, this earlier work limited their results to these places and overlooked the extent of the exposure in the across wider geographical areas, such as a city.…”

Abundance and Distribution of Cigarette Butts on Coastal Environments: Examples from Southern Spain

“…Within beach litter, cigarette butts (CB) constitute one of the most abundant items. The presence of this type of personal waste has been very well documented in different beaches around the world [8][9][10][11][12][13], including Spain [14][15][16]. Their presence on the coast can be used as an indicator of beach management efficiency [17], environmental consciousness [18] and beach pollution linked to beachgoers [19].…”