San Francisco, CA- A national recycling program targeting cigarette waste has been launched by a subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., the United States' second-largest cigarette maker.Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co., based in New Mexico and the maker of Natural American Spirit cigarettes, is funding the program that aims to turn tobacco waste into pellets that can be used to make diverse items, such as park benches, railroad ties, and shipping pallets.
TerraCycle Inc. is teaming up with Santa Fe Natural Tobacco on the program, which hopes to eliminate a portion of one of the most littered items on U.S. roadways. Cigarette butts amount to 135 million pounds of trash that ends up on the road or in the trash.
In a statement, Santa Fe's head of sales and marketing, Cressida Lozano, said "You don't have to walk or drive very far to see that smokers often discard cigarette waste in ways that litter the environment."
The program, known as the Cigarette Waste Brigade program, interested parties can send cigarette waste to TerraCycle using a prepaid shipping label. Participants will get credits that will be donated to the nonprofit community action organization Keep America Beautiful. For every pound of litter, which is the equivalent of 1,000 cigarette butts, participants will receive $1. The program is limited to those age 21 and older.
Trenton, N.J.-based TerraCycle will recycle the filters found in the cigarette butts and turn them into pellets. The paper and tobacco will be turned into compost. TerraCycle developed the process to recycle cigarette butts, which are made up of ash, cellulose acetate, paper, and tobacco, over a two-year period.
TerraCycle said the program will provide a solution for discarded cigarette filters that would normally end up in landfill. Additionally, according to a study by Keep America Beautiful in 2009, cigarette waste accounted for 38% of all U.S. roadway litter.
In addition, the study found that cigarette butts were the most common litter item found in places like construction sites, loading docks, recreational areas retail areas, and storm drains.
Waterways are another significant source of cigarette waste. During the Ocean Conservancy's annual one-day International Coastal Cleanup in 2011, more than 1 million cigarettes or cigarette butts, the equivalent of almost 58,000 packs, were removed from American beaches and inland waterways. Cigarette waste accounted as the most-found item during the cleanup.
In 2003, Keep America Beautiful launched a cigarette litter prevention program, which now has reached 800 programs in 49 states and Washington, D.C. Developed with funding from Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker, along with funding from Reynolds American, based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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