South Africa faces a massive and largely overlooked environmental burden from tobacco use.
An estimated 35-billion cigarette butts are discarded in the country every year, waste that does not biodegrade and is loaded with toxic chemicals that poison the soil, waterways and marine life.
This was highlighted by Prof Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, chairperson and head of the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria, who spoke to the Sunday Times in Geneva on the opening day of the Eleventh Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
COP11, the highest decision-making body of the treaty, brings together 183 parties to assess global progress, adopt new guidelines and confront emerging challenges such as novel nicotine products, illicit trade and industry interference.
Ayo-Yusuf stressed that tobacco’s impact extends far beyond its well-known health harms. In South Africa alone, more than 30,000 people die every year due to tobacco-related diseases, yet the environmental destruction it causes is also severe.
“These cigarette butts contain large amounts of chemicals, which include ammonia, nicotine and many others, that remain in the soil and rainwater washes them into rivers. Eventually, they reach the sea, where they continue to leach toxins and destroy aquatic life. All of this affects biodiversity and ultimately contributes to climate change,” he said.
Tobacco farming and deforestation
Ayo-Yusuf added that tobacco cultivation itself is a driver of environmental degradation. Globally, more than 200,000 hectares of land are used for tobacco farming, primarily in African countries such as Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania.
It’s land you can’t use to grow maize or any other food crop. It stretches food security. After tobacco has been grown, the soil becomes so degraded that farmers often continue planting tobacco because nothing else will grow.
— Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, University of Pretoria
“South Africa has also been a producer, though numbers have shifted, from over a thousand commercial tobacco farmers to about 150 today, because many realised they can profit more from other crops,” he said
Tobacco depletes soil nutrients at a rapid rate.
“It’s land you can’t use to grow maize or any other food crop. It stretches food security. After tobacco has been grown, the soil becomes so degraded that farmers often continue planting tobacco because nothing else will grow,” he said.
He added that curing tobacco also fuels deforestation.
“Most curing is fire-cured; you need wood for that. That means cutting down trees that should be absorbing greenhouse gases,” Ayo-Yusuf said.
“Tobacco farming and deforestation contribute significantly to climate change.”
He pointed to rising sea levels in KwaZulu-Natal and recent coastal disasters as reminders of how environmental instability affects communities.
“People often forget that the deforestation driven by tobacco plays a role in this,” he said.
A new challenge: disposable vapes
Beyond cigarettes, Ayo-Yusuf warned that the rapid spread of plastic-based disposable vapes is creating another waste crisis.
“About 3-million South Africans vape, either daily or occasionally, and more than 1-million of them vape every day,” he said.
He said vapes used to come in refillable tanks, but now there are replaceable cartridges and single-use devices.
“Whether it’s 2,000 puffs or more, once you’re done, you throw it away, and they don’t biodegrade,” he said.
This growing stream of electronic and plastic waste was one of the concerns behind the COP10 decision last year, calling for stronger measures to hold the tobacco and nicotine industry accountable for environmental damage.
A promise to protect future generations
Speaking at the opening of COP11, Andrew Black, acting head of the WHO FCTC Secretariat, said this year’s meeting is particularly meaningful as it marks 20 years since the convention entered into force.
“The WHO FCTC is more than a treaty; it is a promise,” he said.
“A promise to shield future generations from the harms of tobacco, to fight industry interference, and to put health before profit. That promise matters now more than ever, as new products, aggressive marketing and misinformation threaten to undo decades of progress.”
Black added that the work of the parties is central not only to health, but to wider global goals.
“It’s about building a healthier, fairer world and delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals. Every decision we make here brings us closer to ending the global tobacco epidemic. This is our collective responsibility, and our moment to act,” he said.
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