Cigarette Waste Project
What is it?
The WRG Cigarette Waste Project is a community-led effort to address this common form of single-use waste in the context of the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood.
What are we doing?
Our initiative launched in 2023 and we currently have 26 cigarette butt collection containers all over the St Lawrence Neighbourhood. As of March 2024, we have diverted over 80,000 butts to Terracycle (with about 2500 butts collected weekly) for recycling.
We are also offering a cigarette butt pick up service to multi-residential and commercial buildings in the SLNA neighbourhood who has their own cigarette butt receptacles.
How are we doing this?
We have partnered with the local businesses and residents. Our goal is to divert enough cigarette waste to create a neighbourhood sculpture or bench made from recycled cigarette filter plastics. In this way, we hope to foster change in attitudes and normative behaviours relating to this form of reusable plastic.
What happens to the butt waste?
Terracycle breaks down the cigarette waste into its separate materials to turn them back into their raw formats to make new products. The ash and tobacco are composted.
Check out all our location in our neighbourhood using the green location markers for receptacle locations
and the orange location markers for pick up locations.
and the orange location markers for pick up locations.