PMI’s commitment to progress

We believe we can and should play a role in reducing waste from our products, that's why we're addressing the issue of littering by developing innovative solutions.

Our commitment to change strengthens our aspirations of reducing post-consumer waste across our products, by implementing impactful strategies in four target areas:

Packaging, smoke-free electronic devicescigarettes, and smoke-free consumables.

Tackling post-consumer waste at PMI

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Jennifer Motles, Chief Sustainability Officer, PMI
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Packaging

Our goal is for 100 percent of our packaging to be made with recyclable materials by 2025.

Smoke-free electronic devices

Our goal is for 100 percent of our smoke-free electronic devices to have eco-design certification by the end of 2025.

Cigarettes

Our goal is for at least 80 percent of shipment volumes covered by markets with anti-littering programs in place for combustible cigarettes by 2025.

Smoke-free consumables

Our goal is for at least 80 percent of our shipment volume covered by markets with end-of-life take-back programs in place for smoke-free consumables by 2025.

 

Post-consumer waste management  

Reducing and appropriately managing post-consumer waste means we can extract, convert, and use fewer raw materials from a planet with limited natural resources.  

Embedding principles of circularity and eco-design, implementing effective post-consumer waste management solutions, addressing litter, and promoting responsible disposal of products at their end-of-life are key pillars of our post-consumer waste strategy.

Take a look at our strategy document to read about our 2025 aspirations, and how we’re working to achieve them.

Stefano Volpetti, PRESIDENT, SMOKE-FREE INHALED PRODUCTS AND CHIEF CONSUMER OFFICER
Tackling littering and working to develop products that further integrate eco-design principles, driving significant waste reduction and addressing the issue at the source is our key focus when it comes to addressing the environmental impact of our products. We are also are taking the necessary steps to commercialize second-life devices. We plan to expand the collection of used devices and further test first-level triage processes to improve the recovery process and our repair and refresh capabilities. As these capabilities strengthen over time, the new product generations will be more repairable by design, and we expect an increasing number of devices to be sorted for recovery and second life.
Stefano Volpetti, President, Smoke-Free Inhaled Products & Chief Consumer Officer
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As we continue to embed sustainable design principles in our next generation products, we will continue to systematically implement throughout our product development. Research will continue to identify technologies and materials that can enhance the overall environmental profile of our smoke-free product portfolio. As we move along in our eco-design certification ambition, we are engaging with eco-labeling organizations to support product category definitions for electronics and translate the insights into our product development process.
Bin Li, Chief Product Officer
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Anti-littering programs are an important part of our strategy and will continue to be deployed and expanded across the countries in which we operate, in coordination with key stakeholders and partners. We will intensify our efforts to research and apply effective solutions to increase awareness of the littering issue among adult smokers, and we will continue to use our brands as carriers of those messages when possible. Meanwhile, we continue investing in R&D to find solutions that can successfully help us remove plastic from the filters of our combustible products, by exploring and assessing alternative filtering materials that can have less negative impact on the environment and completely replace cellulose acetate.
Werner Barth, President, Combustibles Category & Global Combustibles Marketing

Our World is Not an Ashtray

Discover Our World Is Not an Ashtray, a digital corporate platform to educate, inspire, and engage the public on the issue of littering.

Through this campaign, we share facts and figures, testimonials, and calls to action. Some of our affiliates also use this platform as a basis for local awareness-raising initiatives.

 

Case study: Partnering up to tackle littering through innovation in Mexico

Learn how our colleagues in the Mexican affiliate partnered with a local start-up called Ecofilter in 2019 to reduce littering by developing an innovative biotechnological treatment that regenerates cellulose acetate into cellulose pulp.