What is the fine for throwing a cigarette butt on the ground?

The current statutory scale

What the Criminal Code has stated since 2020

Throwing a cigarette butt on the ground is covered by Article R-634-2 of the Penal Code, which classifies this act as a fourth-class misdemeanor—on the same level as littering or abandoning any other waste in a public or accessible private space.

The penalty schedule is as follows:
- €90 if the fine is paid within 15 days (reduced fine)
- €135 standard flat rate
- €375 if payment is made after 45 days (increased fine)
- €750 maximum judicial fine imposed by a judge
This is not the first law to regulate this type of offense. Prior to 2020, discarding cigarette butts was classified as a third-class misdemeanor, with a flat rate of €68, a reduced rate of €45, and an increased rate of €180. The 2020 decree has therefore nearly doubled the applicable penalty.

Note: the law does not distinguish cigarette butts from other types of litter. A mask thrown on the ground, an abandoned soda can, or a receipt fall under exactly the same provision. What has changed regarding cigarette butts is the frequency of the act and the growing prominence of the issue in municipal policies.

Who is authorized to issue a ticket?

The violation can be cited by a wider range of officials than is generally assumed. The following are authorized to issue citations: judicial police officers, municipal police officers, public road surveillance officers (ASVP), gendarmes, national police officers, as well as agents of the National Forestry Office (ONF) and the French Biodiversity Agency (OFB) within their respective jurisdictions.
In practice, it is municipal police officers and ASVPs who issue citations most frequently in urban areas. Their presence on the ground varies greatly from one city to another, which explains the significant differences in citation rates between municipalities.

A point worth noting for site managers: on private property accessible to the public—such as a company forecourt, parking lot, or office building entrance—issuing a ticket remains possible if a sworn officer observes the violation. The private nature of the property does not serve as a shield.

When a traffic ticket becomes something else

Municipal ordinances: fines that can exceed €750

The national scale sets a framework, not a cap. Municipalities have the option to increase penalties through a municipal ordinance, and several have chosen to do so.
In 2024, Arcachon adopted a €750 fine for any cigarette butt discarded on public roads or in a natural area—the national legal maximum, applied from the very first offense. Obernai, in Alsace, has gone even further by imposing a flat-rate fine of €1,000 since 2021 for any littering on public streets, including cigarette butts. In Paris, more than 2,600 citations for littering cigarette butts were issued in 2022, amounting to approximately €350,000 in fines for that year alone.
These examples are not isolated incidents. They illustrate a fundamental trend: municipalities that make urban cleanliness a political priority no longer hesitate to rely on local laws to impose harsher penalties than those set by national regulations. For a location situated in this type of municipality, the risk for smokers who step outside to smoke in front of the entrance is, in practical terms, higher than elsewhere.

Forest Areas and Fire Risk: A Separate Penalty System

The law of July 10, 2023, on the prevention and control of forest fires introduced a specific regulatory framework that goes beyond the scope of a standard traffic violation. This law prohibits smoking within and up to 200 meters of woods, forests, plantations, heathlands, and scrubland during high-risk periods defined by prefectural decree. Discarding cigarette butts is now explicitly listed in the Forest Code among acts that may unintentionally cause a fire.
Penalties in this context range from a €135 to €3,750 fine, to which up to six months’ imprisonment may be added if liability for starting a fire is established.
This point directly concerns industrial, logistics, or service sector sites located on the outskirts of natural areas. A site in a high-risk zone that has not properly designated its smoking areas is liable to be held accountable in the event of an incident, even if the fire was started by an employee acting on their own.

When a cigarette butt causes a fire: criminal penalties

This is the scenario that most articles on the subject fail to address, even though it is well-documented and has actually occurred in France.
Once a cigarette butt causes a fire that results in property damage, the matter moves from the realm of civil fines into that of criminal law. The penalties are as follows:
Endangering the lives of others: up to 1 year in prison and a €15,000 fine
Unintentional injury: up to 3 years in prison and a €45,000 fine
Manslaughter: up to 3 years in prison and a €45,000 fine, which may be increased depending on the circumstances
Arson: up to 15 years in prison and a €150,000 fine if intent is established
These penalties are not theoretical. In August 2016, a mason working on a construction site in Rognac, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, threw a cigarette butt that had not been fully extinguished into a slope of dry grass on a day when the mistral wind was blowing strongly. The resulting fire raged for three days, mobilized more than 2,000 firefighters, destroyed 2,600 hectares of vegetation, and damaged over a hundred buildings, 26 of which were completely destroyed. He was sentenced to five years in prison—four of which were suspended—for involuntary injury and involuntary destruction of property.
This case illustrates a reality that cannot be fully grasped by the standard scale of fines alone: in certain contexts, a carelessly discarded cigarette butt ceases to be a matter of cleanliness and becomes a matter of criminal liability.

What this means for a website manager

The manager is not responsible for the smoker

The fine for littering cigarette butts is imposed on the smoker, not the company. A site manager does not face a fine simply because cigarette butts are lying around in front of the entrance. This distinction is important, but it does not fully address the issue.

In practice, the recurring presence of cigarette butts on the ground at a site can be interpreted as a failure to maintain control during a quality, safety, or CSR audit. This is not a direct violation, but it is a documentable negative indicator: an auditor who observes an unequipped smoking area or a forecourt consistently littered with cigarette butts has concrete grounds to question the site’s management.

The issue of liability becomes more serious in two scenarios. The first: a fire breaks out on the site originating from a poorly located or poorly managed smoking area. The second: the site is located in a forest fire risk zone and has not implemented the restrictions required by the 2023 law. In these situations, the manager may be held operationally liable, regardless of the smoker’s individual actions.

The Tobacco Product Responsibility Scheme and What Alcome Actually Funds

Since January 1, 2021, tobacco products have been subject to an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme, introduced by the AGEC law. The principle is that tobacco manufacturers and distributors finance the management of waste generated by their products through an accredited eco-organization called Alcome.

Specifically, Alcome funds three types of initiatives for local authorities that enter into contracts with it: the provision of ashtrays in public spaces, awareness campaigns, and partial coverage of collection and cleanup costs. Funding is calculated on a per-capita basis, with an amount of approximately €1.08 per resident per year for urban municipalities.

The targets set in the specifications are quantified: a 35% reduction in cigarette butts discarded in public spaces by 2025 compared to 2022, and 40% by 2026. These targets are binding—Alcome was fined €1.16 million between 2023 and 2024 for delays in deploying collection systems.

This framework is directly relevant for a site manager overseeing a semi-public space or operating on behalf of a local authority. Street ashtrays, collection systems, and a portion of the associated costs can be funded through this mechanism, without the company having to bear the full cost. The funding mechanism exists, but it is little known and underutilized in the private sector.

Conclusion

The regulatory framework surrounding cigarette butts has undergone significant changes since 2020. The €135 fine for individual violations is the starting point of a system that can escalate to criminal charges in the event of a fire, and which varies significantly from one municipality to another depending on local ordinances. For a site manager, the issue extends beyond the risk to smokers: a poorly organized smoking area is a documented concern during an audit and a real risk factor at sites near natural areas.

The most effective operational solution remains simple: equip smoking areas with appropriate furniture, organize regular cigarette butt collection, and ensure they are recycled through the proper channels. No cigarette butts on the ground, no risk.

Easy to Change offers an all-inclusive solution covering the provision of collection furniture, on-site collection, and the recycling of cigarette butts. Find all available equipment in our catalog, or contact us for an assessment of your smoking areas.