Dive Brief:
- The Westwood Village Improvement Association in Los Angeles, in partnership with New Jersey-based TerraCycle Inc., has installed 15 receptacles to recycle cigarette butts. The association put $1,000 into the program, which it says is the first of its kind in the city.
- "We’re trying to change behavior here. We have a lot of smokers in Westwood, for better or worse," said Andrew Thomas, the association’s executive director. The area is adjacent to the UCLA campus.
- Nonprofit Keep America Beautiful says cigarette butts are the most littered item in the U.S. and the world, with tobacco products making up nearly 40% of all U.S. roadside trash. Much of that litter ends up on beaches and in waterways, the Times reported. Heal the Bay reports that cigarette butts are the No. 1 trash item found during beach cleanups.
Dive Insight:
TerraCycle's Cigarette Waste Brigade has collected nearly 36 million units of cigarette butts to date. By using funding from Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, TerraCycle can turn the cigarette waste into plastic pellets, while composting the leftover tobacco. For every pound of cigarette waste collected, Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company donates $1 to the Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.
TerraCycle has worked closely with New Orleans, Seattle, and St. Louis to ensure that this waste stays off the street and is repurposed into a renewable product.
"I think it’s a great thing," nonsmoker Jesse Torrilhon, 39, told the Times. "Far too often you see them on the ground."
