Dutch municipalities, water boards, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs are calling on tobacco manufacturers to cover the full cost of cleaning up cigarette butts from public spaces, estimated at around €36 million per year. Currently, producers pay only about half that amount, as the existing rules require them to contribute only for cigarettes sold within the Netherlands — and with nearly half of all cigarettes now bought abroad due to steep Dutch tobacco taxes, their share has shrunk significantly. Tobacco industry representatives are pushing back, arguing that full liability would be neither fair nor proportionate, while municipalities contend that leaving taxpayers — including non-smokers — to cover the remainder is unjust, particularly given that cigarette filters contain plastic, heavy metals, and toxic substances capable of contaminating up to a thousand litres of water each.