Embargoed for publication until 00.01 Thursday 13th October 2022
Smokers blind to devastating impact of butts on the environment •
More than 1 in 3 smokers think cigarette filters are made from cotton wool
•
Only 1 in 4 are aware they are actually plastic
•
Pilot campaign launches to make cigarette litter “seen”
New research from environmental charity Hubbub reveals just over 1 in 4 smokers (28%) are aware that cigarette butts are made from plastic.1 Of the 1,500 smokers surveyed by Censuswide, over a third (36%) mistakenly think cigarette butts contain cotton wool when in fact the white fluffy material is made from a type of plastic (cellulose acetate) which once smoked, can release thousands of chemicals. Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world and cause serious damage to the environment by leaching out toxic chemicals over a number of years but they don’t get the same attention as other plastic litter which is arguably less harmful. The survey showed over a third of smokers (34%) believe it takes less than a year for a cigarette butt to decompose but the truth is it doesn’t ever decompose and can take up to 10 years to start breaking down into microplastics. More than a quarter (28%) admit to dropping their cigarette butts down the drain – a direct route to our water ways and oceans. Hubbub today took over the streets surrounding Stratford Station, the busiest train station in the UK, by installing eye-catching interventions to raise awareness of their plastic content and help cigarette litter be “seen”. This included giant billboards, ballot bins, newspaper stands and “talking butts” to catch the attention of passers-by. In addition, Hubbub is today calling on councils and industry to do more to raise awareness about what cigarette butts and filters are made from and help encourage smokers to dispose of their butts responsibly. 55% of smokers surveyed say there are not enough cigarette bins at bus stops, 51% said the same for taxi ranks and 51% said the same for outside supermarkets. The location of bins is key. Scientists from Ellipsis Earth who track cigarette litter using cutting-edge mapping software reveal that ashtrays placed in data-highlighted hotspots such as park benches, bus stops and road junctions can reduce littering of cigarettes by up to 90%. In an average town, that’s approximately 40,000 cigarettes a week being captured and correctly disposed of instead of washing into waterways and harming the