Impacts of Butt Littering

At ButtFree we are an anti butt littering organisation. We are here to encourage all smokers to dispose of their cigarette butts thoughtfully. 

One of the greatest myth surrounding butt littering is that because they are so small, they are relatively harmless to the environment. Of course, another surrounds the idea that filters are made of cotton and decompose easily.

However butts are in fact, serious environmental hazard.

Each butt contains remnants of tobacco and paper, as well as the filter. Filters are actually made of plastic filaments. This means that they are made from a type of plastic called cellulose acetate which degrades very slowly. It takes between 2 months and 15 years, depending on exposure to air and water.

Cigarette filters are also specifically designed to accumulate particulate smoke components. This includes: toxic chemicals like cadmium, lead, arsenic and zinc. Littered butts can leach these chemicals and it contributes to soil and water pollution and impacting on wildlife habitat.