Iran to upgrade cigarette filters
Manufactured without bleach treatment or chemical adhesives to bond the filter fibers, Essentra’s Ochre filter degrades three times faster than standard acetate filters. Photo: Essentra Filter Products
The managing director and chairman of the Iranian Tobacco Company (ITCo), said on Tuesday that the company planned to collaborate with six European companies to upgrade its cigarette filters, according to an Islamic Republic News Agency report relayed by the TMA.
The upgrade was said to be part of a harm reduction strategy.
Based on ITCo figures, Iranians smoke 67 billion cigarettes a year.
But the Iranian Health Ministry puts consumption at 50-55 billion cigarettes annually.
The story said that three of the companies that ITCo was to collaborate with were based in Germany and that one each was based in France, Britain and Spain.