Cigarette butts, matches, empty packets and their wrappers are a big litter problem across the country and to make things worse it takes months, and in some conditions, years for a
cigarette butt to degrade.
'#DoYouKnow that a
cigarette butt takes 10 years to degrade?
Last October, two drivers were fined hundreds of pounds after flicking
cigarette butts out of a car window.
Eskenazi said it was impossible to set a log on fire with a
cigarette butt and questioned how
cigarette butts could have been found on the site.
>Dh1,000 for throwing a
cigarette butt from a vehicle
Among them, 90 percent consisted of discarded
cigarette butts, with fines ranging between NT$1,200 and NT$6,000.
The meeting was told that, of the total number of tickets issued, 12,754 were handed out to people dropping
cigarette butts in the street - representing just under 93% of all tickets issued.
"About 6 trillion cigarettes are produced every year, leading to 1.2 million tons of
cigarette butt waste," he said.
With used
cigarette butts becoming a significant source of litter, researchers have found a way to convert the trash to a high-performing material that could be added to products such as wind turbines to improve energy storage capacity.
"[...] We ask that you consider under the Waste Diversion Act, 2002, or any other related legislation, the introduction of steward fees for cigarette producers/manufacturers/first importers to cover the cost of
cigarette butt management, including public education, signage, cleanup and disposal," wrote Harnum.