Cigarette Litter Epidemic

It is time to say good riddance to cigarette litter once and for all! Monday January 25, 2010

One of the council’s biggest headaches is the enormous annual clean-up bill to rid the streets of litter. Cigarette litter is the biggest problem, accounting for more than two thirds of all the rubbish dumped on the streets of Hammersmith & Fulham.To combat the problem, the council has teamed up with corporate and social responsibility consultants CSR Solutions and Keep Britain Tidy and is offering personal ‘ButtsOut’ ashtrays from stores throughout the borough.




Hammersmith & Fulham Council is the first local authority in London to actively promote ‘ButtsOut’ ashtrays and it is expected that other will follow suit as the capital seeks the cleanest streets possible in the run up to the 2012 Olympic Games.
The council is also working with local retailers and businesses to ensure widespread availability of personal ashtrays from stores, so that smokers can take responsibility for their own cigarette litter and make the streets cleaner for everyone.

The ButtsOut personal ashtray is a quirkily designed box for cigarette ends that fits perfectly in the hand and snugly in the pocket for use outside when an ashtray is not to hand.

At only 99 pence, it is fire resistant, easy to use and truly personal. When a lit cigarette is placed inside, it’s immediately extinguished and when full, the container is easy to empty and clean, ready for use again.
Find out where you can buy the ButtsOut personal ashtrays, or order online, by visiting the ButtsOut website (opens new window).
Cllr Greg Smith, cabinet member for crime and street scene, said: “Cigarette litter is a growing issue in Hammersmith & Fulham and ButtsOut is an innovative way to tackle the problem. While our street sweepers clean literally millions of butts from our roads and pavements, you can do your bit by buying one of these trendy boxes. £1 really is a small price to pay if it means keeping our streets clean!”

Phil Barton, Chief Executive of Keep Britain Tidy, said: “The sheer size and scale of the cigarette litter problem is shameful and disgusting. Clearly many smokers have yet to be convinced that their cigarette stubs are litter and they seem happy to drop them everywhere. Cigarettes are litter - once dropped they are very difficult to clean up and blight the majority of the streets and roads in England.”

Charlie Hamshaw-Thomas, Founder of CSR Solutions, said: “We believe that everyone has a part to play in changing consumers’ behaviour and bringing cleaner streets to Hammersmith & Fulham: the Council, Keep Britain Tidy, tobacco companies and retailers, local pubs, clubs and other local businesses all need to promote the responsible disposal of cigarette butts."

“The aim is that personal ashtrays are widely available where cigarettes are bought or where smokers light up which will enable smokers to assume personal responsibility. The central theme really is that together we can make a difference, and Hammersmith & Fulham really is leading the way with this pilot in demonstrating this.”

While the council urges smokers to buy a ButtsOut personal ashtray, it is continuing to proactively seek out persistent butt droppers and litter louts. Highly visible proactive ‘beats’ are inspecting every street in the borough – at least once every ten working days – and key routes are checked daily meaning there is an increased chance that litter bugs who do not get the message will be penalised.
Officers from the council, in partnership with the Police’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams regularly challenge persistent litter-dropping offenders, and have the power issuing Fixed Penalty Notices of £75 for the misdemeanour under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If litterbugs refuse to pay the fine they can even end up with a criminal record.

Cllr Smith added: “We firmly believe that those who drop it there in the first place should pay their fair share. Dropping litter in Hammersmith & Fulham will simply not be tolerated and we will not allow the streets to be treated as a giant ashtray. There is no reason why smokers should not purchase a ButtsOut box. Our streets are not a dumping ground and the sooner the anti-social minority realise that the better. I would like to thank those retailers who are selling ButtsOut and hope that others will also play their part in the initiative by stocking the product.”

Cigarette litter in the UK
•    Approximately 21.5 billion butts are littered every year in the UK. If placed end to end these would cover 430,000 kilometres and circle the earth 10.75 times
•    Over 122 tonnes dropped daily
•    Levels have doubled in England since the smoking ban introduced in July 2007
•    98 per cent of town centres cite cigarette litter as a major issue
•    42 per cent of smokers think it’s acceptable to drop butts as litter

Not just unsightly and smelly, cigarette butts also harm the environment
•    It can take between 18 months and 500 years for a stub to decompose
•    Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a form of plastic which does not quickly degrade and persists in the environment
•    Cigarette butts are carried by storm water and dumped into our waterways, where chemicals such as cadmium and lead leach out, impacting water quality
•    Cigarette butts have been found in the stomachs of birds, fish and other marine animals and wildlife