Nattira Medvedeva
Nattira Medvedeva, Associate Editor
Sustainability is also being applied to business practices in many industries as consumers grow to expect products that fit in with their sustainable lifestyle from companies that follow sustainability principles. The tobacco industry, unfortunately, more often than not gets dismissed as not being one of these industries capable of sustainable practices, most likely because of the off-hand dismissal of the industry as the perpetual “bad guy” who profits off people’s health, which is too simplistic a description and an inaccurate one at that, but that’s an entirely different discussion.
In actuality, sustainable development is possible and sustainable practices can be employed in many aspects of the tobacco industry, from environmental issues such as water use, carbon dioxide emissions, biodiversity, electronic waste, presence of plastic in products and packaging, as well as environmentally friendly pest control to social issues such as labor rights, eliminating child and forced labor, health and safety, sustainable livelihood, and farmer profitability. Measures addressing these issues are already being implemented in tobacco production and manufacturing by a growing number of companies.
While the tobacco industry’s capability for sustainability may get dismissed or questioned by those outside the industry, what no one can deny is the industry’s capability for innovation, developing new products that respond to changing consumer preferences and legal environments, introducing new technology, or maximizing the latest technology to develop products. The avalanche of next generation products like e-cigarettes and heat-not-burn devices that have been introduced to the market are a clear example of this.
Now, if only there were a way to get those outside the industry, many of whom tend to immediately see the industry in a negative light no matter what it does, to objectively listen and actually hear the message it are trying to get across, or, even better, give the industry a seat at the table and the chance to become an equal, contributing partner for the benefit of all.