Cigarette Butt Disposal Solutions
It is important to know solutions for cigarette butts, as they are the main source of waste in the oceans
The incorrect disposal of cigarette butts causes problems for people's health and the environment, being the biggest source of waste in the oceans. But there are already several solutions for the final disposal of this uncomfortable item.
The damage to the population, public spaces and nature made several companies bet on recycling cigarette butts to change this scenario. There are also companies that provide butt holders, not to mention the possibility of making homemade butt holders. Below is a list of companies that offer different alternatives for recycling and disposing of cigarette butts:
Green Butt
Stimulated by the anti-smoking law that is in force throughout the Brazilian territory, the company had the idea of creating external ashtrays to sell and rent. The idea worked and they decided to expand the project to a program for collecting and recycling butts called Bitueco, in addition to creating a butt storage point (PAB). In its online store, there are several models: fixed floor, mobile floor, mobile wall, fixed wall and pocket bitueco - some of them are stainless steel. There are collectors scattered around Parque Anhembi (São Paulo), the University of São Paulo (USP) and the sports square in the city of Joinville-SC.
Bitueco
This cigarette butt collection and recycling program, organized in partnership with Bituca Verde, works as follows: the collection carried out by the butt collectors is taken to a butt storage point (PAB) or a butt delivery point (PEB). In the case of PEB, there is the option for the person to put the butts in plastic bottles and take them to addresses in the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Then, the cigarette butts are transported to cooperative mills, which transform them into raw material for the steel, cement and paper industries.
Environmental Collector Program
It was created with the objective of intensifying awareness of the problem of cigarette butts through the sale and installation of cigarette butt collectors in places with a high movement of people. After a certain amount of butts is deposited at the site, collection is carried out to be sent to recycling and, there, the butts and their residues are processed and transformed into fertilizer (compost), which is mixed with grass seeds and applied on eroded slopes, being used for soil recovery.
Bituca Paper Network
Formed by NGOs and social companies, the network seeks to raise awareness through the selective collection of cigarette butts in specific locations. Butts are recycled and converted into paper with the help of Seed Paper. This paper is later used to make ecological objects. The transport of the butt for recycling is done in a sustainable way through the partnership with the Carbon Zero Courier, a company that provides bicycle delivery services;
Green-Butts
According to the company's website, five trillion cigarette butts become garbage every year and most of them are made with synthetic filters, which are resistant to degradation. The solution they came up with was cigarette butts (filters) made from a patent-pending blend of natural materials such as linen, hemp and cotton. In other words, they are biodegradable cigarette filters, made of natural fibers and without the use of chemicals.
