This invention relates to a cigarette filter made with biological material.

The filters known on the market are highly polluting both in the production phase and after use, especially when they are thrown on the ground. In fact, they contain a very polluting substance, cellulose acetate, a synthetic chemical material that requires 5 to 12 years for decomposition. It is therefore easy to understand how harmful cigarettes are not only for health, but also for the environment.

Only recently world organizations have been concerned about the consequences, even serious ones, that cigarette butts can have for the environment, the sea in particular. According to US studies, the most numerous waste products collected on the coasts of the world are precisely cigarette butts, about one third of all waste collected.

Every year around 6 trillion cigarettes are consumed in the world and throwing the butts on the ground, according to the World Health Organization, is an action considered normal by most smokers. A cigarette butt consists mainly of the filter.

The filter, if abandoned in the sea, breaks up into microplastics that become part of the marine food chains. A study by the Federico II University of Naples is examining the degradation time of butts and the results of the first two years of research are not at all comforting: the degradation of cigarette butts is, in fact, rapid in the first months, when they degrade the external component, paper. Later, however, it almost stops completely, because the microorganisms responsible for the decomposition are unable to attack the substances that make up the butt. Therefore, it remains in the environment, giving rise to plastic fragments and toxic substances. A study by San Diego State University has shown, through laboratory experiments, that a single cigarette butt in a liter of water is enough to kill much of the marine and freshwater fauna.

And the smaller filters used to roll do-it-yourself cigarettes also have a great impact. Because of their small size, they are more easily ingested by fish, birds and small animals and can cause death by suffocation.

Europe, in terms of plastics, has established new rules that provide for a reduction of cigarette butt waste by 50% by 2025 and by 80% by 2030, thus forcing the tobacco industry to pay for the disposal of cigarette butts.

The industry has already tried to solve the problem by creating biodegradable filters made, for example, of natural materials such as cotton, hemp and linen. For rolled cigarettes there are biodegradable filters made of cellulose on the market but this entails, however, damage to the environment as the filters thus made determine the felling of trees in addition to the damage that occurs in their production.

The purpose of this invention is to create a filter for cigarettes made of biological material.

The present invention relates to a filter for cigarettes having the characteristics of the attached claim 1.

The characteristics and advantages of this invention will be clearer and more evident from the following, exemplary and non-limiting description of some embodiments with reference to the attached figures in which:

Figures la, lb, lc and Id illustrate the preparation steps of a first embodiment of the filter according to the present invention;

Figure 2 illustrates an axonometric view of the closed filter made according to the steps shown in Figures la- Id; Figure 3 illustrates a front view of the filter according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4 illustrates a longitudinal section of the filter according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 5 illustrates a longitudinal section of the filter according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

With reference to the aforementioned figures, the filter, according to the present invention, comprises a through separation structure 2 which determines the formation of compartments 3 suitable for the passage and filtration of smoke.

Around this structure 2 there may also be a tubular element 4 that surrounds it.

The structure 2 and the tubular element 4 are of adequate dimensions to be coupled with a common paper for making cigarettes.

When the tubular element 4 is not present, the separation structure 2 is wrapped directly by the paper that is rolled up on it.

Both the tubular element 4 and the separation structure 2 are made by means of vegetable flour paste (for example, wheat flour, hemp flour, rice flour, Khorasan wheat flour or other suitable flour) which are able to retain harmful substances.

Advantageously, cotton, hemp or linen can be inserted in the compartments 3 to retain more harmful substances.

In the first embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the filter is made starting from a single sheet of paste 1 by rolling it on itself, as illustrated in Figures la- Id. In particular, it is sufficient to make a three-quarter fold of the sheet 1 and then roll the strip to form a tubular element. Thus, seen in cross section, a separation structure 2 is formed, substantially S-shaped and arranged in a central position with respect to the circumference of said sheet 1. This S shape preferably extends along the entire length of the filter.

The same shape can, however, be made by means of a mold.

In the second embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, the separation structure 2, seen in cross section, is substantially M-shaped and is inserted inside the tubular element 4. This M shape extends preferably along the entire length of the filter.

In the third embodiment illustrated in Figure 4, the separation structure 2, seen in longitudinal section, has a wavy conformation preferably for the entire length of the filter and is suitably provided with holes capable of allowing the passage of smoke. Said structure 2 with corrugated conformation is inserted inside the tubular element 4.

In a fourth preferred embodiment illustrated in Figure 5, the separation structure 2 is spiral-shaped without an external tubular element whereby the smoke passes through said spiral.

The embodiments indicated above constitute the preferred embodiments, but it must be expressly understood that further modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.