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Consumption

One pack of cigarettes (20 cigarettes)

Yksi savukeaski (20 savuketta)

4.8
Truecost score
Data confidence: HIGH

Comprehensive LCA by Zafeiridou et al. (2018) in top journal. Carbon and water per cigarette well-established.

One pack of cigarettes produces 0.28 kg CO₂e and consumes 74 liters of water. But emissions are the smallest problem — tobacco kills 8 million people/year, and cigarette butts are the world's most littered item (4.5 trillion/year), each containing 15,000 microplastic fibers.

Did you know? Cigarette butts are the world's most common litter — 4.5 trillion discarded annually. Each contains 15,000 microplastic fibers and 4,000+ toxic chemicals. Filters don't even reduce health harm.
Transparent calculation

How was this number determined?

The Truecost score is calculated from absolute physical values. Each row below shows the measured value, how it was normalized, and where it comes from.

Dimension Absolute value Score 100 = Normalized Weight Weighted Confidence
Carbon Emissions 0.28 kg CO₂e 9.5 kg CO₂e 2.95 ×0.35 1.03 HIGH
Water Consumption 74.0 liters 3840 liters 1.93 ×0.2 0.39 HIGH
Land Use 0.4 m²·year 51 m²·year 0.78 ×0.2 0.16 MEDIUM
Waste 0.035 kg 5 kg 0.7 ×0.15 0.10 HIGH
Toxicity 50.0 µDALY 162 µDALY 30.86 ×0.1 3.09 MEDIUM
Truecost score (weighted sum) 4.8

Share of your annual planetary budget

Carbon Emissions 0.03%
Water Consumption 0.02%
Land Use <0.01%
Waste <0.01%
Toxicity 0.31%
Source data by dimension

Where do the absolute values come from?

Carbon Emissions
HIGH
Zafeiridou et al. (2018, ES&T): 14 g CO₂e per cigarette across full supply chain (cultivation, curing, manufacturing, transport, disposal). 20 × 14g = 280g = 0.28 kg.
  • Zafeiridou et al. (2018): Cigarette Smoking: An Assessment of Tobacco's Global Environmental Footprint — Environmental Science & Technology
  • WHO FCTC (2022): Tobacco and its environmental impact

Curing (wood/coal burning) is the largest CO₂ source — more than all other stages combined (45 Mt CO₂e/year globally).

Water Consumption
HIGH
Zafeiridou et al. (2018): 3.7 L water footprint per cigarette. 20 × 3.7 = 74 L. Primarily irrigation for tobacco farming.
  • Zafeiridou et al. (2018): ES&T — tobacco water footprint

Tobacco requires intensive irrigation. One pack's water = 1 person's drinking water for 37 days.

Land Use
MEDIUM
Global tobacco farming: 4 million hectares for 6 trillion cigarettes/year. Per cigarette: 6.7 × 10⁻⁶ ha = 0.067 m². Per pack: 0.067 × 20 × crop cycle ~0.3 year = ~0.4 m²·year.
  • Zafeiridou et al. (2018): ES&T — land use data
  • WHO (2023): Tobacco and deforestation

Tobacco farming drives deforestation — 600 million trees cut annually for curing fuel (~1 tree per 15 packs).

Waste
HIGH
20 cellulose acetate filters (~6g total) + ash (~8g) + packaging (~20g, partially recycled) = ~35g net waste. Filters are non-biodegradable plastic (cellulose acetate).
  • WHO (2022): Tobacco: poisoning our planet
  • OceanCare (2023): Cigarette butts — toxic plastic pollution

4.5 trillion cigarette butts littered globally per year — #1 most littered item on Earth. Each contains 15,000 microplastic fibers.

Toxicity
MEDIUM
WHO: tobacco kills 8 million people/year (including 1.3M from secondhand smoke). Per cigarette: ~72 µDALY direct health impact. Per pack: ~1,440 µDALY for smoker. Environmental toxicity (filter chemicals, pesticides): ~50 µDALY per pack as conservative estimate covering all pathways.
  • WHO (2023): Tobacco fact sheet — 8 million deaths/year
  • Novotny et al. (2009): Cigarette butts and the case for environmental policy — International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
  • CDC (2023): Tobacco lifecycle environmental impacts

Toxicity score vastly understates human health impact. Actual smoker DALY loss is orders of magnitude higher. Score here reflects environmental toxicity pathway only.

Comparisons

Methodology

Full supply chain LCA from Zafeiridou et al. (2018, ES&T) covering cultivation, curing, manufacturing, transport, and disposal. Water from irrigation data. Toxicity reflects environmental pathway only (not direct smoker health impact).

Sources