Cigarette butts: the tiny toxins polluting our world

​By Ivan Chen

A pile of cigarette butts. Cigarette butts are one of the most pervasive types of waste worldwide, but efforts are underway to minimize their environmental impact. (Credit: Ri_Ya/Pixabay)

In a world overflowing with pollutants and litter, one form of waste stands out: cigarette butts. Cigarette butts — the remains of smoked cigarettes — can be found in just about any public space, like parks, sidewalks, roads and beaches. Cigarettes are a widely consumed item worldwide, and they are rarely disposed of properly. As such, cigarette butts are a major environmental pollutant, despite their small size.

This article explores the composition of cigarettes, the environmental impact of cigarette butts and initiatives aimed at reducing the amount of waste generated by these products.

Background on cigarettes

Modern cigarettes are primarily composed of dried leaves from the tobacco plant and chemical additives that may add flavour or enhance the smoking experience. They also contain a plastic filter and a thin piece of paper that wraps everything into a cylinder. 

Filters were introduced in the 1860s to keep loose tobacco out of smokers’ mouths. Beginning around the mid-twentieth century, it was discovered that cigarettes contained carcinogens; there are thousands of chemicals and toxins present in cigarette smoke, including nicotine, cadmium, tar, carbon monoxide and formaldehyde. Filters were then advertised as a means of protecting smokers’ health, as they would supposedly reduce the amount of chemicals inhaled. 

However, tobacco companies realized that trying to selectively filter out harmful chemicals was impossible. Furthermore, filters made the smoke easier to inhale and encouraged deeper, more frequent draws. 

Nonetheless, production of these filters, commonly made of a plastic called cellulose acetate, significantly increased after that. Cigarettes are not just harmful to smokers; they have a major impact on the environment.

Environmental impact

About 1.25 billion adults use tobacco products. This demand explains the nearly 6 trillion cigarettes that are sold annually worldwide. However, many people may not know how to properly dispose of them. Some places may also lack adequate infrastructure to accommodate this type of waste. 

Annually, about 4.5 trillion butts are littered — making it the most littered item in the world. In Toronto, cigarette butts are one of the most common forms of litter found on the city’s streets. Overall, tobacco products make up between 25 to 40 per cent of all litter globally. 

The manufacturing process of cigarettes is quite harmful to the environment. Tobacco farms tend to require a lot of land, which may lead to deforestation. According to the World Health Organization, around 3.5 million hectares of land are cleared annually to accommodate these farms. Hundreds of millions of trees are chopped down, and billions of litres of water are used to create cigarettes. 

Equally harmful is the improper disposal of cigarette butts. The plastic filters in cigarette butts are not biodegradable and also tend to contain leftover toxic chemicals. Over time, after cigarette butts have been discarded, the plastics and chemicals in them can enter into and pollute bodies of water, soil and other parts of the environment. This ultimately harms humans and wildlife.

Solutions

Banning plastic filters would be a major step towards minimizing the waste and environmental impact of cigarette butts. As mentioned, production of these filters greatly increased in the wake of claims that they supposedly decrease the risk of certain health-related effects of smoking. However, filters aren’t effective in improving health. As such, banning them would prevent unnecessary waste from being produced and entering the environment. 

Another approach to reducing waste is recycling the plastic filters and adding them to asphalt mixtures to create stronger roads. After the filters are cleaned and undergo a processing phase that turns them into small pellets, they can be combined with asphalt. The cellulose fibres found in cigarette filters can reinforce asphalt and make it more flexible. Overall, the asphalt becomes better at withstanding heavy traffic and temperature changes. 

This idea has seen real-world application. In Slovakia’s capital, Bratislava, the city’s waste management firm began placing containers for cigarette butts at public events in 2024, with the intention of utilizing the filters in road construction. In fact, the Slovakian city of Žiar nad Hronom already has a road made with discarded cigarette filters, proving the viability of this approach.

Efforts are also being made in Toronto to cut down on cigarette waste. In 2023, the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood Association Waste Reduction Group (SLNA-WRG) began a partnership with TerraCycle Canada, a recycling company, seeking to address the city’s most widespread form of litter. So far, this initiative has led to the installation of 44 cigarette butt collection containers throughout the St. Lawrence neighbourhood. 

Over half a million cigarette butts have been collected and sent to TerraCycle for recycling. This involves separating cigarette waste by material type, composting the ashes and tobacco, and converting leftover materials into their raw form to create new products. The SLNA-WRG hopes to create a neighbourhood sculpture or bench made from recycled cigarette filter plastics and to promote change in behaviours and attitudes towards this topic.

Summary

Individual cigarette butts may appear insignificant, but collectively, their impact on the environment cannot be overlooked. As the world’s most littered item, we have a responsibility to continue finding methods of disposing of and repurposing the contents of cigarette butts. The efforts in Slovakia and Toronto offer insight into how this can be done.

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Edited by Jess Blackwell, Lumida Creative Services