Earth Day: Cigarette butts rank first on attention list
Updated 19:40, 25-Apr-2019
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On Earth Day, we take a look at one of the world's biggest contributors to pollution. Several forms of plastic waste have received a great deal of attention. But on a list of most littered items, cigarette butts take the top spot and the numbers associated with littered butts are astounding. CGTN's Greg Navarro reports from Sydney.
The next time you are at the beach strolling along the sand or walking on city sidewalk, take a good look at the ground under your feet. Chance are, you are never far away from this, the world's most commonly littered item. Cigarette butts account for more than a third of all collected litter.
GREG NAVARRO SYDNEY "That's because out of the 5 trillion cigarettes bought around the world each year, 65% end up as litter. But here's a number to really consider when thinking about cigarette butts and their impact, 2.3 million. That's the number of butts littered, not every week or every day or even every hour, but every minute."
And according to studies, it starts with an estimated 75% of smokers who admit to improperly discarding their cigarette butts, that's 3 out of every 4 smokers. While some of that discarded butt is biodegradable, the filters are not. The fibers that look like cotton are really a plastic made from cellulose acetate. Scientists say it can take up to 15 years to decompose.
GREG NAVARRO SYDNEY "Those filters alone, if bundled into a single pile, would weigh more than 766 million kilos. That's the equivalent weight of more than 14 Sydney Harbour bridges."
And the bad news about butts doesn't stop there. One out of every 10 discarded butts reach bodies of water.
GREG NAVARRO SYDNEY "The problem is that cigarette butt litter is toxic because of the host of chemicals including arsenic. In fact, just one butt can turn about 2 gallons of water lethal for small crustaceans."
Those same chemicals can leach into soil and cigarette butts have been found in animals who have mistaken them for food. Improperly discarded butts have also been known to start fires. The good news is that cigarette butts can and are being recycled in some countries, including here in Australia, and turned into industrial plastic products. The challenge, as the numbers show, is convincing people to properly dispose of them. Greg Navarro, CGTN, Sydney.