Cigarette butts are the forgotten plastic pollution – and they could be killing our plants

[PHDNM]

Cigarette butts are the forgotten plastic pollution – and they could be killing our plants

July 19, 2019

It’s amazing how quickly people have ditched plastic straws thanks to campaigns to discourage us from using such “pointless plastic”. Yet rarely do we hear about a much more common source of plastic pollution.

Cigarette butts or filters are the most littered item on the planet. An estimated 5.6 trillion cigarettes are smoked each year, out of which two thirds are improperly disposed of. That’s [4.5 trillion butts] each year. Since the 1980s, cigarette butts have accounted for 30% to 40% of all litter found in coastal and urban litter clean-ups.

https://theconversation.com/cigarett...-plants-119958

[The Lawspeaker]

I have long since thought that municipalities should place ashtrays next to public bins. This is one of those typical facility problems - people pollute the street because facilities are absent. A good municipality provides the big three to the traveller: free public toilets, public bins and public ashtrays.