You Can Recycle Cigarette Butts!

You Can Recycle Cigarette Butts!

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Did cigarette butts are usually not totally biodegradable? But there’s an answer: TerraCycle, the corporate that strives to discover a option to recycle every thing, affords a free Cigarette Waste Recycling Program. Just join with TerraCycle, accumulate the waste, and ship it to them for recycling.

When tossed on the road, the seashore, or wherever they fall, cigarette butts take 18 months to 10 years to interrupt down. Discarded butts leach chemical compounds and heavy metals, the identical issues that kill people who smoke, into the atmosphere. They usually wash down the road gutters, polluting our waterways and harming fish and different wildlife. Recycling cigarette butts is a crucial option to clear up after ourselves. It is nice for the neighborhood or seashore, and good for the planet.

Are you a smoker, or do you reside or work with people who smoke? Or maybe you’re one in all our heroes who pick up cigarette butts from the seashores, parks, or neighborhood streets. Whatever your relationship with cigarettes, TerraCycle’s program is nice information for these involved with the waste they create.

What TerraCycle Accepts

The TerraCycle Cigarette Waste Recycling Program accepts extinguished cigarettes, cigarette filters, free tobacco pouches, outer plastic packaging, inside foil packaging, rolling paper, and ash. To guarantee correct recycling, don’t ship some other waste with these supplies. If you might have paperboard packaging, recycle it by way of your native recycling program.

The service is free however you need to present your individual containers. If you’re a enterprise or simply desire a handy resolution for packaging and delivery cigarette waste, TerraCycle additionally affords a variety of cigarette Zero Waste containers that embrace pre-paid delivery labels.

Do you might have a enterprise or group location the place you’d like to gather butts? You can purchase fire-safe aluminum cigarette waste receptacles to put in in high-traffic areas.

Accepted waste for TerraCycle cigarette recycling program
Image: TerraCycle

Tips for Successful Recycling

Make positive cigarettes are totally extinguished earlier than you accumulate them.

Store the waste in a re-sealable plastic bag, disposable plastic container, plastic procuring bag, or rubbish bag.

When able to ship, safe the containers to seal within the odor and ash. Take the time to bundle fastidiously as a result of it suppresses the odor for you and the individuals who deal with it in transit.

Download a delivery label from TerraCycle, place your full containers in a sturdy field, and ship it to TerraCycle.

How Are Cigarettes Recycled?

With funding from Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, the cigarette waste that you just accumulate will get recycled into quite a lot of industrial merchandise, equivalent to plastic pallets. Check out this infographic from TerraCycle that explains the method.

"Infographic:

Learn extra in regards to the Cigarette Waste Recycling Program, or discover different free TerraCycle Recycling Programs.

Feature picture by Gino Crescoli from Pixabay. This article was initially revealed on July 4, 2020.