Gov't collects billions in cigarette waste fees but doesn't know where the money goes

The government collects more than 100 billion won ($75.3 million) annually in waste disposal fees from smokers yet cannot track how that money is spent. This has raised questions about the system’s effectiveness, as discarded cigarette butts continue to clog drains, contribute to urban flooding and pollute the environment.

Waste disposal fees — set at 24.4 won for a pack of 20 cigarettes — aim to discourage waste generation and have polluters bear the cost of the pollution they cause. Cigarettes are subject not only to this fee but also to taxes and levies such as the individual consumption tax and the National Health Promotion Fund levy.

The amount collected through cigarette-specific waste disposal fees rose from 90.9 billion won in 2020 to 101.7 billion won in 2024, according to data obtained from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment by Rep. Lee Yong-woo of the Democratic Party (DP) on Monday.

However, the government does not know exactly how that money — which is meant to address cigarette waste management — is being used.

“It is difficult for us to […] identify expenditures funded by revenue from [cigarette-specific] waste disposal fees,” the Environment Ministry said in response to an inquiry from Lee’s office.

It attributed this to how the fees are managed.

“The waste disposal fees collected from cigarettes are incorporated into a special account for environmental improvement, which makes it impossible to distinguish them from other revenue,” a ministry official explained.

The government reportedly uses waste disposal fees to support waste treatment facilities and regional governments. However, this means that there is a strong possibility that much of the more than 100 billion won collected annually from smokers is not spent specifically on cigarette waste.

The government’s policies for managing cigarette waste also remain limited.

While the central government requests regional governments to install dedicated cigarette collection bins and expand street-cleaning staff who clear storm drains and catch basins, it has few programs funded through its own budget. It also does not even maintain basic data, such as the number of cigarette butt collection bins installed nationwide.

Other measures include coordinating storm drain maintenance, raising public awareness of the importance of keeping catch basins clear and campaigning against cigarette littering.

The Environment Ministry is also against recycling cigarette butts, citing research showing that many countries, including Germany and Britain, classify them as nonrecyclable waste.

“We are currently not pursuing additional policies,” a ministry official said.

With limited central government action, the responsibility for collecting and disposing of cigarettes has largely fallen on regional governments.

"As far as we know, there is no central government budget specifically allocated to cigarette disposal,” a Seoul Metropolitan Government official said. “We have been working independently with private companies and other organizations to install dedicated collection bins.”

“There have also been no significant policy discussions with the Environment Ministry recently,” the official added.

The problem is that discarded cigarettes cause a range of environmental and infrastructure problems, including pollution and urban flooding.

An estimated 19,000 metric tons of cigarette waste is generated annually in Korea, according to a government-commissioned research report on cigarette-butt collection and recycling published in 2022.

However, efforts to collect the countless cigarettes discarded on streets remain inadequate. Cigarette filters, which are made of plastic fibers, also break down into microplastics that threaten marine ecosystems.

Complaints about cigarette littering frequently appear online.

“Why do people throw cigarette butts down drains?” one user wrote in a post.

“The discarded cigarettes clog storm drains and pollute the environment,” another wrote.

During heavy rainfall, cigarette butts can clog storm drains and catch basins, potentially contributing to severe road flooding. One notable example was the flooding around Gangnam Station in southern Seoul in 2022.

When catch basins become clogged with trash, their drainage efficiency drops sharply, accelerating flooding and potentially expanding the flooded area by more than threefold, according to an analysis by the Seoul Institute.

Smokers, who are often blamed for the problem, argue that the government also bears responsibility.

“I’ve been smoking for nearly 20 years, but I didn’t even know that I was paying a waste disposal fee,” said a cigarette smoker surnamed Kim.

“Of course, people shouldn’t throw trash wherever they want, but doesn’t the government also bear significant responsibility for dealing with cigarette butts?” Kim asked.

Lee Sung-kyu, CEO of the Korea Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, criticized the government’s failure to make effective use of the fees.

“As a result, responsibility and criticism for cigarette waste management continue to fall primarily on smokers,” he said, adding that the rapid rise in liquid-type electronic cigarettes has also raised concerns about environmental pollution caused by discarded electronic devices.

DP Rep. Lee Yong-woo also called for reforms to ensure that fees are used for their intended purpose.

“It is difficult to understand how the government can collect more than 100 billion won a year in cigarette waste disposal fees without even knowing the actual cost of disposing of cigarette butts,” he said.

“The government must first determine the actual disposal costs and assess cigarette-butt collection and recycling performance, then reform the system so that the fees can effectively address the cigarette waste problem.”

BY JUNG JONG-HOON [[email protected]]