Hubbub Cigarette Litter 2022: Polling Summary 3,049 18+ respondents with 1,595 cigarette smokers and 2,010 nationally representative. 13.05.22 – 18.05.22. Plastic/environment Smokers: •
Only 1 in four (28%) smokers are aware that cigarette butts contain plastic.
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14% say they regularly drop their cigarette butts because they believe they don’t impact the environment and that they will decompose.
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Over a third of smokers (34%) believe it takes less than a year for a cigarette butt to decompose but the truth is it takes around 10 years.
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36% mistakenly think they contain cotton wool.
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When told that cigarette butts actually contain plastic and can harm wildlife… o 45% of smokers said it's probably more impactful on the environment than they thought o 40% of smokers said it probably takes longer to biodegrade than they thought o 23% of smokers said they are now more concerned about how it might impact wildlife o 21% of smokers said they’d now be more likely to put their cigarette butts in a bin
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When participants were told that cigarette butts kill and injure wildlife, break down into microplastics, take years to biodegrade and carry a heavy load of toxic materials that can be harmful to nearby marine life and plants, 57% said they’d be more likely to look for an ashtray nearby, 50% say they are more likely to keeping hold of their cigarette butts for longer, 36% say they are more likely to switching to a reusable vape pen, 34% say they are more likely to quit smoking, 34% say they are more likely to carrying a portable ashtray.
Habits
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53% of smokers admit to dropping their cigarette butts on the ground, 28% say they do this regularly (but this is reported behaviour so the reality is probably much higher).
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On average, smokers litter just under a quarter (22%) of the cigarettes they smoke* o *drop on the ground, hide in a crevice, put down the drain, pop in a plant pot, place it somewhere else. More than a quarter (28%) of smokers admit to dropping their cigarette butts down the drain and just under 2 in 5 (38%) of smokers admit to dropping their cigarette butts on the ground o 20% say they do it because they just don’t really think about it o 20% say they do it because It’s a habit they find hard to break
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Young people •
18-24s are more than four times as likely to drop their cigarette butt on the ground than over 55s
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44% of 18-24s admit to regularly dropping their cigarette butts on the ground Vs 55+ at 10%.
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Only one in 10 of 18-24s never drop their cigarette butt on the ground compared to 44% of 55+
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18% of all adults think it’s socially acceptable to put a cigarette down the drain. This is 28% for 18-24 year olds.
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8% of all adults think it’s socially acceptable to put a cigarette butt on the floor. This is 16% for 18-24 year olds
Barriers Of the 841 people who admitted always/often/sometimes putting a cigarette butt on the ground, ● 30% say they only do it if there is not a bin or ashtray nearby (22% of men vs 35% of women) ● 22% say they do it because they don’t want to put it in their pocket or bag because they smell (21% of men vs 23% of women) ● 21% say they do it if they have nothing to carry cigarette butts in (18% of men vs 24% of women) Bins
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17% of 18-24s would never hold on to their cigarette butt to find a bin. 23% would hold on to it between 1 minute and 3 minutes 23% would hold on to it between 4 minutes and 5 minutes
The top locations which smokers believe do not have enough bins are: bus stops (55%), taxi ranks (51%) and outside supermarkets (51%). 60% of smokers are not willing to hold onto a cigarette to find a bin for any longer than 5 minutes 14% of smokers say they would never hold on to a cigarette butt to find a bin. Fines The data suggests fines do have an effect: • 18% of smokers have been fined for dropping a cigarette on the floor • 40% of those that have been fined say they make more effort to look for a bin/ashtray now (49% of women do this compared to 29% of men) • 27% say they now carry their cigarette butts for longer (29% of men vs 25% of women) •
When asked what would help to support smokers to dispose of their cigarette butts more responsibly, more bins and ashtrays topped the list followed by bigger fines
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1 in 3 smokers (32%) claim they don’t realise it’s illegal to litter cigarettes
Responsibility •
A majority think that smokers should be responsible for paying for cleaning up littered cigarette butts (40% of smokers vs 54% of non-smokers think so)
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Amongst smokers, a majority (51%) think it is the responsibility of the cigarette companies to tell people that cigarette butts are made from plastic.
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26% of smokers have noticed new messaging on packaging sharing that filters/cigarette butts are made from plastic
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22% have noticed communication campaigns from environmental charities on the fact that cigarette butts are made from plastic
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20% have noticed information from the government on the fact that cigarette butts are made from plastic
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44% of smokers have not noticed any of the above
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