The glossary

A

ADEME

The French Agency for Ecological Transition: a public body that steers and funds waste-management and circular-economy policy in France and publishes the reference data on the subject.

AGEC law

France's law n°2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on the fight against waste and the circular economy. It reorganised waste management in France, including the creation of an EPR scheme for tobacco products (producers responsible for collecting and treating cigarette butts in public space). See your legal obligations.

Audit (ESG / CSR)

Assessment of a company's environmental and social practices (Ecovadis, ISO 14001, CSRD reporting). Traceable cigarette-butt management — with a waste transfer note and a recovery chain — is a concrete, easily documented data point.

B

Biowaste

Organic waste (food scraps, green waste) that can be recovered through composting or anaerobic digestion. Since 2024, separate sorting at source is mandatory for all producers in France. On this topic, see our sister brand Easy to Compost.

BSD — waste transfer note

The official document (French bordereau de suivi des déchets) that tracks a waste stream from producer to final treatment. Mandatory for hazardous waste such as cigarette butts, and managed digitally through the national Trackdéchets platform. A key piece of evidence for CSRD, ISO 14001 and Ecovadis audits. See your legal obligations. The document in detail: the waste transfer note.

C

Cellulose acetate

The plastic that the filter of almost every cigarette is made of. Contrary to common belief it is not biodegradable: it fragments into microplastics over years while releasing the substances it has trapped (nicotine, heavy metals, tar). This is what makes the butt a waste stream in its own right, justifying a dedicated recycling chain.

Cigarette butt

The unconsumed end of a cigarette, filter included. The most littered item in the world, classified as hazardous waste, a single one of which can pollute up to 500 litres of water. The object of the collection and recycling handled by Easy to Change. Where it sits in the European waste catalogue: waste classification codes.

Circular economy

A model that limits the waste of resources by feeding waste back into production cycles. Recycling cigarette butts and composting biowaste are two concrete applications. Turning the model into an operating routine: business waste management.

clikeco

A national logistics operator licensed for hazardous waste, Easy to Change's partner for collecting cigarette butts across France. Issues the waste transfer notes via Trackdéchets. See our partners.

Collection (of butts)

The service of installing collection points in a site's smoking areas, emptying them regularly and routing the butts to a treatment chain, with traceability. The core of Easy to Change's business: see cigarette butt collection.

Compost

The stable, organic-matter-rich product of composting biowaste, used as a soil amendment. Covered by Easy to Compost.

Composting

The aerobic (oxygen-present) breakdown of biowaste into compost. The preferred organic-recovery route for food waste in companies — the expertise of our sister brand Easy to Compost.

CSRD — Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive

An EU directive that progressively requires large companies to publish a sustainability report harmonised under the ESRS standards. ESRS E5 ('Resource use and circular economy') directly concerns waste management, cigarette butts included. How that becomes a workable framework: the CSR policy.

E

easytoclean

Easy to Change's sister brand dedicated to site cleanliness (cleaning, managing soiling). Complementary to butt collection for operators who care about the state of their outdoor areas: easytoclean.co (in French).

easytocompost

Easy to Change's sister brand dedicated to collecting and recovering biowaste (composting, anaerobic digestion). Lets you pool the management of butts and organic waste on a single site: easytocompost.com (in French).

Eco-organisation

A state-approved body, funded by producers, that organises an EPR scheme (collection and treatment of a category of end-of-life products). An EPR scheme for tobacco products has existed in France since the AGEC law.

Ecovadis

A widely used platform that rates companies' CSR performance across supply chains. Traceable waste management, butts included, contributes positively. From intent to evidence: building a CSR action plan.

EPR — Extended Producer Responsibility

The principle that a manufacturer bears the end-of-life cost of the products it puts on the market. It underpins the tobacco-products scheme created by France's AGEC law and is promoted at EU level.

ESRS

European Sustainability Reporting Standards: the standards that structure the sustainability reporting required by the CSRD. ESRS E5 covers resources and the circular economy.

EU Single-Use Plastics Directive

The EU directive (2019/904) that targets single-use plastic items, including cigarette filters (which contain plastic). It introduced EPR obligations for tobacco products and underlies the ongoing discussion of a filter ban.

F

Filter (cigarette)

The part of a cigarette made of cellulose acetate, designed to retain some of the smoke's substances — and which therefore concentrates pollutants once the butt is discarded. At the heart of the recycling issue.

Fire-safe ashtray

An ashtray fitted with a metal cap that smothers unextinguished butts on contact (oxygen-starved). It sharply reduces fire risk compared with open ashtrays or bins used by default — a major issue during droughts. Built into the Easy Premium range.

Five-stream sorting

France's mandatory sort-at-source obligation for five waste categories (paper/cardboard, metal, plastic, glass, wood), later extended to biowaste and plaster. Cigarette butts form a separate stream to be handled through a dedicated chain. See your obligations.

H

Hazardous waste

A regulatory category that includes cigarette butts, owing to their content of nicotine, heavy metals and residual toxic substances. It implies specific transport rules (licensed operator) and traceability (mandatory waste transfer note). Classification and what it triggers: hazardous waste in business.

Heavy metals

Toxic substances (arsenic, lead, cadmium…) trapped by the filter and then released by the discarded butt. One of the reasons it is classified as hazardous waste.

I

ICPE

A French 'classified installation for environmental protection': an industrial site subject to reinforced environmental rules, particularly concerned by waste traceability and fire-risk prevention.

ISO 14001

The international environmental-management standard. Waste traceability (transfer note, recovery chain) is an expected element during certification or surveillance audits. For the wider picture: the pillars of CSR.

L

Littering

The abandonment of waste in public space — including dropping a cigarette butt, the most common item of litter worldwide. Penalised in France and increasingly across Europe. See the cigarette littering fine.

M

MéGO!

A French specialist in cigarette-butt recycling, Easy to Change's technology partner for the material recovery of the cellulose acetate collected. See our partners.

Methanisation

The anaerobic (oxygen-free) breakdown of biowaste, producing biogas and digestate. An organic-recovery route complementary to composting, handled by Easy to Compost.

N

Nicotine

A substance present in tobacco and retained by the filter. Toxic to aquatic life, it contributes to the butt's classification as hazardous waste.

O

Organic recovery

Turning biowaste into compost or biogas (composting, anaerobic digestion). The field of Easy to Compost.

P

Passive smoking

Involuntary exposure to someone else's smoke, the basis of the employer's duty to protect non-smokers. See smoking at work.

Point of collection

A location fitted with an ashtray or bin where butts are deposited before emptying. Its sizing and placement (including fire safety) are covered by the smoking-area assessment.

Producer of waste

Under environmental law, the entity whose activity generates waste — responsible for its management through to final disposal or recovery. For cigarette butts, this is the site operator. What that responsibility covers in practice: the duty of care for business waste.

R

CSR — Corporate Social Responsibility

A company's voluntary integration of environmental and social concerns into its activity. Responsible butt management is a concrete, measurable and communicable CSR action. Further examples: CSR initiatives for business.

Material recovery

Recovery that turns waste into a new raw material (here, decontaminated cellulose acetate). To be distinguished from energy recovery. See cigarette butt recycling.

Recycling (of butts)

The whole process of recovering a collected butt rather than incinerating or landfilling it: decontamination followed by material recovery of the acetate. Detailed on cigarette butt recycling.

S

Signage (no-smoking)

The mandatory display marking the smoking ban and smoke-free areas. Conditions and deadlines are detailed on smoking bans in Europe.

Smoke-free area

An outdoor or public perimeter where smoking is banned (beaches, parks, near schools…), expanding across Europe. To be distinguished from the ban on littering the butt, which applies everywhere. See smoking bans in Europe.

Smoking area

An area, usually outdoors, where smoking is allowed on a site. Its layout (fire-safe ashtrays, signage, perimeter) and compliance are the subject of the smoking-area assessment and the smoking at work page.

Sort at source

Separating waste by stream at the moment it is produced rather than afterwards. The founding principle of the five-stream rule and the condition for effective recovery. How to put it in place on a site: business waste segregation.

T

Toxic substances

Harmful compounds (nicotine, tar, heavy metals) concentrated in the filter and released by the discarded butt — hence its treatment as hazardous waste.

Traceability

The ability to document a waste stream's path from producer to final treatment (via the transfer note and Trackdéchets). Required by CSRD, ISO 14001 and Ecovadis audits. What it demands of a company: waste tracking for business.

Trackdéchets

France's free public digital platform for managing waste transfer notes. It has become the reference for proving the traceability of a chain, cigarette butts included. See your legal obligations. Registering and getting access: the waste tracking service.

V

Energy recovery

Treatment that turns waste into energy (heat, electricity) through controlled incineration. The default option when material recycling is not possible, but less virtuous than the latter.

W

Workplace smoking ban

Across Europe, indoor workplaces are smoke-free and the employer must protect non-smokers; many countries now also restrict or ban indoor smoking rooms. See smoking at work.