VUB Facility Services is aiming to make its campuses free of cigarette butts. “This is indeed a big problem,” says VUB professor of analytical and environmental chemistry Marc Elskens. “Cigarette butts have caused great damage in the environment.” An awareness campaign starts on Monday 23 October.
What is the problem with cigarette butts?
Like plastic straws and bags, cigarette butts are a harmful pollutant to aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Cigarette filters are the main problem, because there are no rules for their disposal by sewage treatment plants, so a large proportion of cigarette butts end up in rivers and oceans.
What is the damage?
To give an idea of the scale of the problem: of the approximately 11 billion cigarette butts discarded around the world every day, about 40 per cent end up in the oceans.
According to the Butt Pollution Project, a US association dedicated to the elimination of tobacco waste, 66% of the 5.2 trillion cigarettes produced globally every year end up in the environment. Because one cigarette butt can pollute dozens of litres of water, the impact of this waste on water resources around the world is critical.
How long does it take for a cigarette to break down?
It takes an average of 12 years for cigarettes to fully degrade. Although filters disintegrate within one to two years, some components, such as cellulose acetate, can take almost 10 years to biodegrade.
Are there any other dangers?
Cigarettes contain chemicals, some of which are toxic or even carcinogenic, such as nicotine, phenols or metals, and these harmful substances usually end up in sewers and are found in water networks, which are not designed to treat them.
Are there any initiatives to control the tidal wave of cigarette butts?
Faced with the wave of cigarette butts polluting surface and groundwater, certain companies have been set up to recycle them.
The Breton company MéGo recycles plastic cigarette filters to make various objects, and there are also initiatives in Belgium. The city of Brussels has implemented a comprehensive cigarette butt plan to make smokers consider their actions and inform the public. The plan includes awareness campaigns and the installation of urban ashtrays, as well as an increase in fines and the creation of a partnership to recycle collected cigarette butts.
And now VUB is joining in.