Environmental activists pile up 6 lakh cigarette butts to raise awareness on pollution

A group of environmental activists collected and piled up 650,000 cigarette butts in the heart of Portugal’s capital, Lisbon. This was done to raise awareness about the pollution caused by them. Cigarette filters, known as cigarette butts, are detrimental plastic waste that poses environmental hazards.

Every year, massive quantities of cigarette butts are discarded in the environment, causing the release of toxic substances like metals and nicotine, and contributing to micro-plastic pollution. Enough cigarette butts were gathered to fill 40 plastic buckets, which were then piled up into a mound for Andreas Noe, the German climate activist responsible for the stunt, to climb on. To protect himself from the harmful toxins in these non-biodegradable cigarette butts, Noe wore a breathing apparatus.

As quoted by media outlets, the 34-year-old said, “We asked everyone in Portugal to take part in this community project to raise awareness about plastic pollution, because plastic is hidden in cigarette butts and many people don’t know it.”

The activist, who is also an avid surfer, stated that the seemingly mundane cigarette butt serves as a powerful symbol of taking action against issues like littering, ocean pollution, and the larger climate crisis. Two years ago, he managed to collect approximately one million cigarette butts within a span of two months.

David Figueira, who participated in the project, expressed the intention to combat this issue by promoting responsible disposal of cigarette butts. He urged people to discard the butts in designated bins or use pocket ashtrays, rather than littering them on the ground.

Cigarette butts are globally recognised as the most commonly discarded waste item, totalling around 766.6 million kilograms of toxic litter annually, according to World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). Furthermore, they are also the predominant form of plastic pollution found on beaches, posing a significant threat to marine ecosystems by increasing the risk of microplastic leakage from cigarette filters. The toxic substances present in microplastics, when consumed, can lead to prolonged mortality among various forms of marine life.

Certain countries have embraced the concept of the Polluter Pays principle. They have enacted laws that hold the tobacco industry accountable for cleaning up the pollution caused by their products through “extended producer responsibility legislation”.

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