Cigarette Butts

India

Type of waste: domestic

Every year, 100 billion cigarette butts get dumped in the landfills of India, accounting for 26,454 tons of waste. The Indian Institute of Toxicology says that cigarette butts, under ambient conditions, show only 37.8% degradation in two years, which means that they continue to pollute long after disposal. Thanks to the Article 5.3 of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Treaty that India signed in 2004, smokers will pay more for cigarettes with the extra amount being used for the clean-up. https://www.allindiansmatter.in/cigarette-butts-are-the-most-littered-form-of-plastic-in-india/

Sachi Tungare. India

Mumbai-based industrial designer Sachi Tungare wanted to find a way to give this trash a second life. As a first step, she made a collection of 10 sculptures, including bowls, lamp shades, and vases, which she exhibited at Dutch Design Week. Each object is made from about 300 cigarette stubs that Tungare collected by hand. “We don’t tend to think about cigarette waste very much because they are tiny,” she says. “But around the world, there is no way to properly dispose of them.”

CODE Effort

CODE Effort is India's first cigarette waste recycling company. It recycles each component of cigarette waste generated either domestically or industrially and makes a range of products like paper bags, pillows, soft toys, etc. It uses each and part of cigarette butts to manufacture their products and they are expanding their range of products to make air purifier, eye wears, etc. They work closely with major cigarette companies and collect cigarette buds from various collection points