IQOS corner within the KIX Duty Free store at Kansai Airport.

Philip Morris International (PMI) is familiar to many as the multinational tobacco company putting a concerted emphasis on championing its smoke-free products, notably within the heat-not-burn and oral nicotine segments.

But running alongside this smoke-free transformation aligned to tobacco harm reduction efforts are seven other ‘impact-driven’ areas that constitute its redesigned sustainability framework.

These concern the following: Seek net positive impact in wellness and healthcare, reduce post-consumer waste, foster an empowered and inclusive workplace, improve the quality of life of people in our supply chain, tackle climate change, preserve nature, and purposefully phase out cigarettes.

“Our strategies and related initiatives are guided by a set of policies and principles, including our Environmental Commitment, Anti-Littering Policy, and Sustainable Design Framework, complemented by specific internal guidelines,” Beste Ermaner, Vice President, PMI Duty Free told TRBusiness.

Beste Ermaner, Vice President, PMI Duty Free.

Packaging targets in 2025

Ermaner, who stepped into the VP role at PMI Duty Free in March this year succeeding Edvinas Katilius (to read an in-depth Q&A with Ermaner, click here), explains that PMI’s post-consumer waste management approach, for example, targets resource preservation and preventing inappropriate disposal, including littering.

“We do this by designing our products with the principles of circularity and waste reduction in mind, accounting for the products’ environmental impact at the early stages of development and offering consumers solutions to play their part and dispose of end-of-life products appropriately,” she described.

“To reduce post-consumer waste across our portfolio, we seek to design and implement impactful strategies tailored to our various products and packaging and tied to specific targets.”

PMI, which has publicly declared its ambition to be a substantially smoke-free business by 20230 by offering choice to adult cigarette smokers to switch to its smoke-free products, has established sustainability targets aligned to the pathway.

On eco-design and circularity, PMI is eyeing 100% of smoke-free electronic devices introduced into the market to carry eco-design certification by the end of 2025.

This accompanies other objectives around its eco-design programme, such as the inclusion of recycled content in all PMI developed devices as of 2025 and decreasing the carbon footprint of its smoke-free products in line with science-based targets.

On packaging specifically, PMI cites 100% of packaging to be made with recyclable materials by 2025 and 95% of packaging materials from renewable sources by 2025.

“We are committed to understanding and managing the environmental and social impacts across our entire value chain, including the life cycles of our products,” added Ermaner.

“For PMI, contributing to the circular economy means developing more environmentally friendly smoke-free products, meaning that our devices, consumables, accessories, and packaging have less environmental impact compared to our current products. We do this through activities such as improving their recyclability, efficiency, and repairability and including more renewable materials.”

For more on PMI, access the links below…

READ: Behind the business – Interview with Beste Ermaner, VP, PMI Duty Free

READ MORE: Philip Morris International Duty Free: “Smoke-free future is within reach”

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