April 14, 2014 – 8 Days until Earth Day…
Of the nearly 8 million items of debris collected from waterways worldwide in 2006, cigarettes and cigarette butts accounted for roughly 1.9 million, the sixth consecutive year they have topped the list
The Numbers
- The overall littering rate for cigarette butts is 65 percent, and tobacco products comprise 38 percent of all U.S. roadway litter
- Keep America Beautiful also found that cigarette butts were the most common litter item collected at five of six non-roadway sites, including: retail areas, storm drains, loading docks, construction sites, and recreational areas
- Tobacco products continue to be the most prevalent aggregate litter item, comprising roughly 38 percent of all litter
- A study published in the April 2011 issue of Tobacco Control, estimated that “tobacco product litter” comprises 22 to 36 percent of all visible litter
- It is estimated that 1.69 billion pounds of butts wind up as toxic trash each year
- Estimated removal costs range from $3 million to $16 million for major cities and municipalities (taxpayers and local authorities currently bear these costs)
The Facts
- Nearly all cigarette filters are composed of a bundle of 12,000 plastic-like cellulose acetate fibers
- Cigarette butts leach toxic waste like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, nickel, lead, aluminum, manganese, titanium, iron, zinc, strontium, nicotine, cadmium, barium, chromium, copper, and arsenic
- The nicotine trapped inside 200 used filters may be sufficient to kill a 160 pound adult human
The Environmental Impact
- Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate tow, NOT COTTON, and they can take decades to degrade. This toxic residue is damaging to the environment.
- A study of the effects of roadside waste on soil found similar patterns of poly-aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) levels in the soil as in cigarette butts found in the roadside waste, indicating that the chemicals had leached from the butts into the soil.
- Typically wind and rain carry the cigarette into the water supply, where the toxic chemicals the cigarette filter was designed to trap leak out into aquatic ecosystems, threatening the quality of the water and many aquatic life forms.
- The Ocean Conservancy’s 2012 International Coastal Cleanup showed cigarette butts as the most littered item, representing 32 percent of all items collected.
- A recent study showed that cigarette waste easily meets standardized tests for city and state agencies to label a substance as toxic waste.
- Littered butts cause numerous fires every year, some of them fatal.
The Solutions
- Smokefree or tobacco-free policies for beaches, parks, and campuses can help dramatically reduce tobacco waste in these areas. Smokefree beach laws have helped to reduce butts on beaches by 45 percent according to the Audubon Society.
- Increase the availability of butt receptacles. One of the strongest predictors of cigar tip and cigarette butt littering is the number of available ash receptacles, either as stand-alone or integrated into a trash can. For every additional ash receptacle, the littering rate for cigarette butts decreases 9 percent. Unfortunately, only 47 percent of observed sites have an ash or ash/trash receptacle. And for the past decade, ash trays as a standard feature in new cars have been phased out.
- Purchase a free personal ashtray. These ashtrays are paper thin and will easily fit in your pocket. They are foil lined, trap the smell inside, and take up less space in your pocket or purse than a pack of cigarettes. If for some reason you don’t want to carry around disposable ashtrays, then you can improvise which such things as film containers, metal mint containers, regular tin foil, or anything else that’s handy.
- Increase fines and penalties for littering butts.
- Place monetary deposits on filters.
- Educate community stakeholders about the impact of tobacco waste on the environment.
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