TerraCycle has also launched similar recycling programs, partnering with various cities to reduce the volume of litter created by cigarettes. Both
Vancouver and
New Orleans got on board with the plan to help keep their cities clean by targeting cigarette waste, while an arena in
Nashville, TN collects and ships used cigarettes to TerraCycle for recycling and composting.
The container costs about $40, and the city is responsible for cleaning them. The developers of the units, TerraCycle, a company in New Jersey, handles the waste for free.
The city, along with its Downtown Development District and New Jersey-based recycler TerraCycle, installed 50 new cigarette-recycling receptacles on several downtown blocks.
TerraCycle, which uses difficult-to-recycle products in its process, has a nationwide program, along with New Orleans and other cities, that recycles cigarette butts into plastic pellets later used to make products, such as industrial pallets.
In some areas, cigarette litter recycling can actually be profitable for cities. As
reported previously by GovExec State & Local, companies such as New Jersey-based
TerraCycle are paying cities like Salem, Massachusetts, for their recycled butts.
In order to track litter-reduction efforts, CLPP closely monitors programs in newly launched areas.
The City of Salem, Massachusetts is launching a city-wide program to collect and recycle cigarette butts, in an effort to keep Salem streets clean. Salem’s rollout is the first in New England for this new initiative and will launch this month with the installation of dozens of new cigarette-recycling receptacles around the city, especially downtown. The receptacles will be easily identified with stickers that say “Recycle Your Butts Here.”
The city is launching a program to collect and recycle cigarette butts. Salem has become the first municipality in New England — and one of the first in the nation _ to team with
TerraCycle on the firm’s butt recycling initiative. Salem last week was set to begin installing dozens of cigarette receptacles in the city, primarily in the downtown. The waste will be collected regularly by city workers and shipped to TerraCycle.
Salem pioneers cigarette butt recycling program: “Whoever thought you could recycle cigarette butts? But you can, and Salem will soon become the first community in New England to do so by teaming with TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade. Up to 200 receptacles bearing stickers that read “Recycle Your Butts Here” will be placed across the city in the coming weeks to provide an easy way to reduce a prolific form of littering, according to city officials, and help keep Salem’s streets a little cleaner."
