§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will encourage the tobacco industry to develop a biodegradable cigarette tip given that cigarette ends form 30 per cent. of the items of rubbish identified by the Tidy Britain Group.
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§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Hesketh)The major responsibility for the problem of discarded cigarette ends of course rests with the people who drop them. We hope that the measures to be contained in the forthcoming Environmental Protection Bill, in particular the proposed increase in the penalties for littering and the wide-scale introduction of fixed penalties for the offence, will act as an effective deterrent to litterers. However, the noble Lord has raised an interesting point which is also relevant to the disposal of litter after collection. I have no information at present on the composition of cigarette ends but will look into the matter and report back to the noble Lord at a later date.