Before 2015 in France, throwing your cigarette butt on the ground was something normal… not even reprehensible.
Since 2015throwing a cigarette butt on the ground is prohibited.
Initially, the fine was €68, it has been increased to €135 since 2020.
Not much compared to what is happening elsewhere
In Switzerland, smokers who throw their cigarette butts on the ground risk a fine of 200 Swiss Francs… or €180.
In Belgium: €200.
In Italy: 300€.
Who says better ?
Singapore: the equivalent of €12,400 and hours of community service.
Luxembourg is tired of being “nice”
Until then, the cigarette butt thrown on the ground cost €45.
Thanks to a new law: it will be 145€ for a cigarette butt and even 250€ for a plastic bag.
The most “forgiving” border country is now Germany: €100 for a cigarette butt thrown away… but have you ever seen a German throw his cigarette butt on the ground?!
Germany throws nothing down
For a simple reason: the country loves to sort its waste!
In German gardens or in buildings: there are generally 5 different bins:
— Brown for leftover food, coffee filters, peelings, etc.
— Blue for paper and cardboard
— Green for glass jars…
— Yellow for packaging where there is a green dot (this is getting complicated!).
— Black for everything else.
Collection points for glass bottles have three different containers:
— one for brown color glass, one for white color glass and one for any other color glass!
– Marc Grandmontagne
This is valid for non-returnable bottles because otherwise, they have to be brought back to the store to recover the deposit (Pfand).
Waste sorting is a national sport in Germany, even a hobby… in France, we are still very far from it.