Monitoring
By item count, cigarette filters are the most frequently littered (plastic) pollutant on the planet. It is estimated that more than 100.000 filters end up in the environment worldwide every second. This problem can’t be solved by awareness raising or cleaning up.
That is why a large-scale monitoring campaign started in the Netherlands on April 21st, 2025 initiated and coordinated by Dutch NGO GoClean. From October 20 till November 30 a European-wide monitoring will be conducted. The monitoring will provide data on how many filters are found on the streets and in nature in the various European countries. This research plays a critical role in persuading policymakers and bringing us closer to a ban on plastic cigarette filters. You can take part and join the monitoring!
Participate in the monitoring
For a period of six weeks hundreds of volunteers will weekly map cigarette filters on many different, carefully selected locations. Participating takes approximately 20 minutes per week. The first monitoring started in the Netherlands on April 21st and results were published in the Dutch news. A follow-up monitoring in different European countries will start on October 20th, 2025. The monitoring provides more accurate figures than those of government monitorings. More information is provided via the website of GoClean.
Previous results
In 2021, GoClean coordinated a first six week cigarette filter monitoring in the Netherlands. The resulting report was handed over to the Dutch government. The main message: this problem can't be cleaned up, we need a ban on plastic cigarette filters.