New exploration of filter material manufacturing technology

For decades, the global tobacco industry has predominantly used cellulose acetate tow to produce cigarette filters. While this material offers excellent filtration performance and strong plasticity, it also suffers from poor degradability. Developing alternative filter materials has become a challenge that the tobacco industry has been striving to overcome in recent years. Currently, some filter research companies and individuals have made relentless efforts to develop cigarette filter materials that not only offer superior filtration performance but also decompose rapidly.

Polylactic Acid: An Environmentally Friendly Material

Polylactic acid (PLA) is a renewable resource that can be extracted from corn, cassava, sugarcane, and sugar beets. Initially, PLA, similar to cellulose acetate, was mainly used to produce films, varnishes, and biodegradable plastic bags and containers. PLA materials can decompose quickly, within just a few weeks, under almost any environmental condition. However, PLA has yet to achieve true large-scale commercial production. Tang mentioned that his company sold 50,000 tons of this tow in 2017. Compared to the global sales of approximately 5.5 trillion cigarettes last year, this volume is almost negligible. But Tang noted, “Our export volume is slowly increasing each year. Some companies are becoming more environmentally conscious and are willing to try using PLA tow as a substitute for cellulose acetate tow.”

Jute Fiber: A Rapidly Degradable Plant-Based Material

It’s not only large corporations that have the time and resources to advance cigarette filter development; some private companies and individuals are also investing in filter material research. Don Lu, who resides in a small town in Colorado, USA, might provide the filter market with another alternative material. He is confident that his painstaking, ground-up research could revolutionize the entire cigarette filter industry. Experiments have shown that jute fiber can degrade very quickly. Compared to traditional materials, this fi