Cigarette Butts are Rubbish

Cigarette butts are made of plastic and do not biodegrade, so when you drop one on the ground it is no different to littering a water bottle, a crisp packet or any other item you wouldn't dream of dropping. Yet, despite only 12% of the population being regular smokers we know that cigarette butts are in fact the country's most littered item.

The impact this has on our environment is huge. That is why, over the last few years we have been working hard to tackle the blight of cigarette litter. Thanks to our national behaviour change campaign, interventions, and partnerships, between 2022 and 2024 we managed to reduce cigarette litter by 17% across the country!

Our National Behaviour Change Campaign

You would put your crisps packet in the bin, so why would you drop a cigarette butt? Cigarette butts are rubbish, they are a single use plastic and wreak havoc on our environment.

So bin your butts, or the duck will be watching…

Some people believe that putting a cigarette butt down a drain is the right way to get rid of it, but in fact this is still littering. These butts go directly into our waterways and eventually the sea, causing harm to marine life.

Where should I put my butt?

Cigarette butts are rubbish and belong in the bin. If you can't find a bin, put it in a container or a Butt Box until you can dispose of it correctly.

As part of a piece of national research looking to reduce cigarette litter, Keep Britain Tidy distributed Butt Boxes from the end of June to November 2024. This research has concluded and Butt Boxes are not currently available for order.

If you would be interested in ordering a Butt Box in the future, please leave your email address here.

I'm interested in a butt box

Where can I get a butt box?

If you would be interested in ordering a butt box in the future, please leave your email address here.

HOW SHOULD CIGARETTE BUTTS BE DISPOSED OF?

If you smoke, make sure that you stub your cigarette out and put it in a bin. If you are not near a bin, then please keep it with you until you can bin it.

Some people believe that putting a cigarette butt down a drain is the right way to get rid of it, but in fact this is still littering! These butts go directly into our waterways and eventually the sea, causing harm to marine life.

KEEP BRITAIN TIDY'S CAMPAIGN AGAINST CIGARETTE LITTER

Our national behaviour change campaign is part of a programme of work to tackle the UK's largest source of litter, cigarette butts. The campaign is underpinned by research and supported by practical behaviour change interventions.

We estimate that through reach and targeting our behaviour change campaign has been seen by over 97% of smokers in England. Our behaviour change interventions have substantially reduced cigarette littering behaviour, and our research reveals hotspots for cigarette litter and explores and tracks smokers' attitudes to littering.

Is Cigarette Litter a big issue?

Cigarette butts are the country's most littered item! This creates a big issue as cigarette butts are made of plastic and do not biodegrade. Over time, cigarette butts break apart into microplastics and seep toxins into the earth and our waterways. When you consider that nearly 3 million cigarette butts are littered in the UK every day, you can start to understand what a big issue this is.

What harm do cigarette butts cause?

Cigarette butts cause devastating environmental damage. Over time each butt will break apart into microplastics, seeping toxic chemicals including arsenic, lead, formaldehyde and nicotine into the earth and watercourses. These chemicals affect ecosystems at every level, from microorganisms through to plants, animals and aquatic life.

REFERENCES

[1] Keep Britain Tidy; Litter Composition Analysis Summary Report March 2020 20200330 KBT Litter Composition Report - FINAL.pdf (keepbritaintidy.org)

[2] Keep Britain Tidy (2022) Baseline Attitudinal Study into Smoking Related Littering, YouGov 24th-26th May 2022. UK adults, aged 18+ (smokers & non-smokers) 499 current UK smokers, aged 18+ and 3702 non-smokers

[3] Keep Britain Tidy National Litter Survey 2019/2020 National Litter Survey How Clean is England Leaflet 2019 2020.pdf (keepbritaintidy.org)

[4] Modelling study: François-Xavier Joly, Mathieu Coulis, Comparison of cellulose vs. plastic cigarette filter decomposition under distinct disposal environments, Waste Management, Volume 72, 2018, Pages 349-353, ISSN 0956-053X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.11.023.

[5] Novotny, T.E. and Slaughter, E. (2014) Tobacco product waste: an environmental approach to reduce tobacco consumption. Curr. Environ. Health Rep. 1, 208-216.) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4129234/

[6] World Health Organisation (2022). Tobacco: poisoning our planet. ISBN 978-92-4-005128-7 https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240051287)

[7] Disposable e-cigarettes and cigarette butts alter the physiology of an aquatic plant Lemna minor (Lemnaceae) (2023) D.S. Green, B. Boots, B. Olah-Kovacs, D. Palma-Diogo. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723030784?via%3Dihub#bb0260