Your legal obligations on cigarette butts, explained clearly
AGEC law, EPR principle, source-separation decrees, criminal code, CSRD requirements: what French and European regulations actually impose on companies regarding cigarette butt management. Without unnecessary jargon, and with the sources.
What you'll find on this page
- 1. The individual criminal framework
- 2. AGEC law and the EPR principle applied to cigarette butts
- 3. Source-separation decrees in companies
- 4. The ban on smoking in workplaces
- 5. Waste traceability: the mandatory waste transfer note
- 6. CSRD, ISO 14001 and Ecovadis requirements
- 7. Risks for companies that don't address the topic
The individual criminal framework
Since the French decree n°2020-1573 of 11 December 2020, dropping a cigarette butt on the public highway is sanctioned by article R633-6 of the French Criminal Code. This offence falls under the 4th class fine category, with the following amounts:
- €135 — base fixed fine
- €90 — reduced fine (payment within 15 days)
- €375 — increased fine (payment after 45 days)
- €750 — maximum fine in case of repeat offence
Equivalent littering regimes apply in most continental European countries: Germany (€25 to €250 depending on the Land, under Bußgeldkatalog), Switzerland (CHF 100 to CHF 300 under USG and cantonal regulations), the Netherlands (from €150 under Wet milieubeheer), Belgium (€60 to €250 depending on the region, under VLAREM, Walloon waste decree or Brussels-Capital ordinance).
This sanction targets individuals (the smoker), but the company is indirectly impacted: a site regularly strewn with cigarette butts becomes a possible fining zone, with consequences on image and on relations with co-ownership, neighbourhood and local authorities.
Some local authorities (Paris, Cannes, Strasbourg, Obernai in France; Amsterdam, Munich, Geneva elsewhere) have voted municipal bylaws with specific reinforced fines. National frameworks set a floor, and local bylaws often add to them.
AGEC law and the EPR principle applied to cigarette butts
French law n°2020-105 of 10 February 2020 on combating waste and the circular economy (known as "AGEC law") deeply reorganised waste management in France. It notably introduced the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principle applied to tobacco products. This French framework transposes and extends the broader EU SUP Directive 2019/904 on single-use plastics, whose Article 8 mandates EPR for tobacco products with plastic filters across all EU Member States.
Concretely, since 1 January 2021, tobacco product manufacturers and market-placers in France are required to finance the collection and treatment of cigarette butts abandoned in public spaces. A dedicated eco-organisation, approved by public authorities, coordinates this EPR scheme by paying local authorities for the deployment of anti-cigarette-butt setups. Equivalent national EPR schemes operate across the EU (Germany's Einwegkunststofffondsgesetz / EWKFondsG, the Netherlands' UPV Tabaksproducten, Belgium's regional EPR systems). Switzerland operates under USG/VVEA with a different funding model.
For B2B companies (headquarters, industrial sites, office co-ownerships), this EPR does not cover the private perimeter. The hardware installed at your site and the collection of its cigarette butts remain at your expense. This is why an integrated service like Easy to Change is designed to absorb this cost with a coherent economic model (durable hardware + pooled collection + material recycling).
Source-separation decrees in companies
The French decree n°2016-288 of 10 March 2016, known as the "5-stream decree", requires companies with more than 20 employees (and activities producing more than 1.1 m³ of waste per week) to sort at source five waste categories: paper/cardboard, metal, plastic, wood, glass.
This decree has since been enriched to become the 9-stream decree with the addition of mineral fractions, plaster waste, textile and biowaste. Cigarette butts are not explicitly listed among these streams, but they fall under the general obligation of responsible management of professional waste provided for by articles L541-1 et seq. of the French Environmental Code. Equivalent requirements exist across the EU: Germany applies the Gewerbeabfallverordnung (GewAbfV) since 2017 with strict source-separation rules; the Netherlands enforces source separation under the Activiteitenbesluit; Belgium applies regional decrees (Flanders' VLAREMA, Wallonia's waste decree).
In short: if your company is subject to a source-separation decree for its other waste, treating cigarette butts seriously is consistent with your overall sorting policy. Conversely, neglecting this specific stream while complying with the others appears as a gap in your approach, particularly visible during audits.
The ban on smoking in workplaces
The French decree n°2006-1386 of 15 November 2006, known as the "Bertrand decree", generalised the ban on smoking in all closed and covered places that receive the public or constitute workplaces. This ban concerns offices, meeting rooms, corridors, toilets, corporate restaurants, and more generally any shared enclosed space. Equivalent workplace smoking bans apply across all EU Member States and Switzerland (BNichtrSchG in Germany, Bundesgesetz zum Schutz vor Passivrauchen in Switzerland, Tabakswet in the Netherlands, federal anti-smoking law in Belgium).
For smokers, this means a mandatory exit to the outside, where they consume their cigarettes — typically at building entrances, on terraces, in inner courtyards, on forecourts. It is precisely in these places that cigarette butts concentrate, for lack of suitable hardware.
The company remains free to set up an indoor smoking room respecting article R3511-2 of the French Public Health Code (specific air extraction, no communication with other premises, limited surface area, signage). But these smoking rooms are costly and uncommon; the majority of sites let smokers go outside.
Waste traceability: the mandatory waste transfer note
The waste transfer note (Bordereau de Suivi des Déchets in France), framed by articles R541-45 et seq. of the French Environmental Code, is the official document that tracks the journey of a waste item from its producer (your company) to its final disposal or recovery.
For cigarette butts, which are classified as hazardous waste (due to their content of nicotine, heavy metals, and residual toxic substances), the waste transfer note is mandatory as soon as they are entrusted to a collection provider. The document is now digitalised in France via the national platform Trackdéchets. Equivalent digital traceability systems are being deployed across the EU under the revised Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC as amended); Germany operates the eANV electronic system, Belgium has IMJV/AGORHA per region, and the Netherlands uses the AVI system.
The waste transfer note includes: producer identification, type of waste (EWC code), weight, transport mode, treatment facility, and nature of treatment (material recycling, energy recovery, disposal). It is this document that protects you legally in case of inspection, that feeds your CSRD reports, and that proves to your Ecovadis or ISO 14001 auditors the reality of your stream.
Easy to Change provides you with this waste transfer note every quarter, automatically, without any action on your part.
CSRD, ISO 14001 and Ecovadis requirements
The European CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), transposed into all EU Member State laws (in France by the ordinance of 6 December 2023; equivalent national transpositions in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and other Member States), progressively imposes on large companies (and eventually listed mid-caps) a harmonised sustainability reporting under the ESRS standards published by EFRAG. Swiss companies subject to comparable Swiss obligations (Code des obligations Art. 964a et seq.) face similar requirements.
On the waste perimeter, the ESRS E5 standards "Resource use and circular economy" require notably to document:
- quantities of waste produced by type
- treatment streams (material recycling, energy recovery, disposal)
- circularity rates and source-reduction efforts
- commitments with suppliers and subcontractors
Cigarette butts, even if they represent a modest volume in tonnage, are an indicator often looked at by CSR auditors to validate the consistency of a waste policy: it is a visible, symbolic stream, easy to check by on-site sampling.
Private benchmarks such as Ecovadis (CSR rating of companies) and ISO 14001 (environmental management system) also question this point. Structured cigarette butt management, with a quarterly waste transfer note and a documented material recycling stream, contributes to highlighting these certifications.
Risks for companies that don't address the topic
Not addressing the topic of cigarette butts at your company does not result in a specific direct administrative sanction (beyond general waste rules). But it accumulates several indirect risks that together carry significant weight:
- Fire risk: a poorly extinguished cigarette butt remains one of the leading causes of fire starts in urban and industrial settings. Insurers integrate this risk into their multi-risk corporate pricing.
- CSR and image risk: client visit, CSRD audit, press article, photos on social networks — a site covered in cigarette butts at the entrance sends a negative signal that no amount of CSR policy can offset.
- Relational risk: neighbourhood, co-ownership, syndic, local authority — complaints related to cigarette butts around buildings are recurrent and degrade relations with the immediate environment.
- Audit and certification risk: Ecovadis, ISO 14001, CSRD — any structured CSR approach will question cigarette butt management. A non-existent setup lowers ratings.
- Employee risk: for smokers themselves, the absence of a suitable ashtray is perceived as a lack of consideration. For non-smokers, it is a daily irritant (smell, cleanliness, site image).
The good news: structuring the topic costs little, especially compared to these risks. An integrated Easy to Change service handles everything — hardware, collection, recycling, waste transfer note, awareness — for an annual budget generally lower than the cleanliness expenses absorbed internally.
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