© 2024 New Atlas
Environment

City of Vancouver launches cigarette butt recycling program

By Ben Coxworth
November 14, 2013
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
Vancouver's cigarette butts are being used to manufacture shipping pallets, among other things (Photo: Shutterstock)
Vancouver's cigarette butts are being used to manufacture shipping pallets, among other things (Photo: Shutterstock)

What can you say about cigarette butts? They instantly make wherever they are look seedy, they don't biodegrade, plus they're highly toxic to aquatic organisms. It turns out, however, that they are good for something. The City of Vancouver and TerraCycle Canada launched a first-of-its-kind pilot program this Tuesday, in which the butts will be collected for recycling.

As part of the Cigarette Waste Brigade program, 110 cigarette recycling receptacles have been installed on several blocks in downtown Vancouver. The idea is that besides keeping the butts out of landfills, they also won't be littering the streets. People are additionally being encouraged to save up butts in their home or workplace, then send them in for processing.

And no, they're not being recycled into new cigarette butts. Instead, the cellulose acetate in their filters is being used in the production of industrial products such as shipping pallets. Additionally, tobacco extracted from them will be composted.

Incidentally, in a study conducted at China’s Xi’an Jiaotong University, it was found that discarded cigarette butts could also be used for rust-proofing steel.

The Cigarette Waste Brigade program is part of the Greenest City 2020 Action Plan, in which Vancouver is aiming to become the greenest city in the world by the year 2020. That plan has also included construction of the LEED-certified Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Center, the introduction of a car-sharing program, and the use of recycled plastic in road asphalt.

Sources: City of Vancouver, TerraCycle via The Canadian Press

Tags

EnvironmentRecyclingWasteCigarettesTobacco
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Flipboard
  • LinkedIn
Ben Coxworth
Based out of Edmonton, Canada, Ben Coxworth has been writing for New Atlas since 2009 and is presently Managing Editor for North America. An experienced freelance writer, he previously obtained an English BA from the University of Saskatchewan, then spent over 20 years working in various markets as a television reporter, producer and news videographer. Ben is particularly interested in scientific innovation, human-powered transportation, and the marine environment.
13 comments
Slowburn
My biggest problem with smokers is the way they litter.
Bembo Davies
As a further incentive one gets 2 centimos back for each butt delivered to stations serviced by unemployed youth on a retread program that has quitting smoking as its first step. The 40 cents a pack increase funds the recycling stations. An option is that the butts aren't counted but weighed after a brief humidity test to prevent enterprising smokers from adding value via a process known as spiffing.
Bruce Miller
Ban tobacco altogether! Classify it as the narcotic it really is. Tobacco users load our fantastic health care system with "self inflicted" illnesses. Franny has to wait for a hip replacement while some smoker gets a new lung? I call bullshit!
AllenH
Ban tobacco? What if people started smoking marijuana instead of tobacco? That's legal in some states now.
Will a tobacco ban work better than prohibition in the 1930's? If I go overseas and bring back cigarettes, will they be confiscated at the border? Will I be arrested?
Are you going to eliminate the thousands of jobs for people who grow, process, ship, and distribute tobacco products?
Even Obama smokes, so you're not going to get him to signup. Now if you convinced Michelle that it's fattening, you might get her and Michael Bloomberg to team up and ban it.
Does the ban include chewing tobacco as well?
Don't get me wrong. I've never smoked and don't like the smell of cigarettes, but I just don't see this happening.
AllenH
I'll give Vancouver credit for trying to address the problem, but I have to wonder how many cigarette butts it takes to make a pallet, and how many pallets could be produced with a year's supply of butts from a city like Vancouver.
Todd Edelman
Better would be to only sell cigarettes with quickly biodegradable filters at the same price as other cigarettes -- so that there is no reason to import black from the U.S. etc.
Norlito Morales
In what way we can call it the Greenest City by 2020, while there are still cigarette smoke on the air.
Jay Wilson
Smokers will "save up their butts and send them in" for recycling? Right. What's next, crack addicts sending in their pipes?
JSSFB
Really good idea, something good coming from something bad, always a plus. I hope that more large cities adopt the idea
Threesixty
>Bruce! Banning is the cause of the Mafia. Right now the government taxes on tobacco are mimicking the Mafia in places like Canada and Australia.
A pallet of cigarette butts is worth it's weight in gold if the nicotine is extracted and sold as patches, sprays, or volatiles..
Most Viewed