A sustainable smoking article element

An element 103 (i.e. cooling element) for use in a smoking article 100 (i.e. HNB (heat-not-burn) product) comprises a longitudinally extending core of filtering material, wherein the filtering material comprises: paper and/or other biodegradable material; and a hydrophobic material. The hydrophobic material may be distributed throughout the longitudinally extending core of the element 103 and/or coated on the filtering material. The longitudinally extending core may comprise one or more longitudinally extending bores, and/or a profiled outer surface including a plurality of grooves or channels. The length of the element 103 may be from 5mm to 50mm, more preferably 8mm to 25mm, for example 18mm, and the circumference of the element 103 may be from 12mm to 30mm, more preferably from 17mm to 25mm. The smoking article 100 may comprise one or more discrete further segments 101, 102, 104 in addition to element 103. The filter material may be readily biodegradable.