Agencies working to reduce cigarette litter in state parks
TerraCycle Include USA Cigarette Recycling Program
GREENSBURG — Two agencies have teamed up to reduce the number of cigarette butts carelessly discarded in Pennsylvania State Parks, and are planning to continue the project.
A $20,000 grant from Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program was used in 2020 by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to reduce cigarette litter by 42% in ten state parks.
To date, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has implemented the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program in 35 of the 121 state parks with an overall, combined reduction rate of 67%.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful received additional funding of $20,000 to continue their work in 2021-2022 in Sizerville, Little Buffalo, Cowans Gap, Laurel Hill, Keystone and Ryerson Station state parks.
The CLPP program begins with a scan, or physical count, of cigarette butts and other tobacco related products. Ash receptacles are then installed at points of entry, like entrances to public buildings, and portable ashtrays are distributed to smokers who visit the parks. In addition, the state parks agree to encourage the enforcement of litter laws, which includes cigarette litter, and educate visitors about the consequences of cigarette and other tobacco related litter.
Two other scans are performed, one midway through the year and a final count at the end of the program.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and participating parks are partnering with Terracycle to expand the program to include recycling and composting of the cigarette butt waste. Cigarettes collected at the state parks are shipped to Terracycle where the various materials that make up a cigarette are separated and processed. The filters are melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled industrial products, such as plastic pallets. The residual tobacco and paper are separated out and composted in a specialized process.
According to Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s 2019 Pennsylvania Litter Research Study, over 500
million pieces of litter were found on Pennsylvania’s roadways. Of the total estimated litter, 186.2 million or 37.1 percent were cigarette butts.
Cigarette butts that are thrown on the ground can contaminate soil and ground water with chemicals and heavy metals; fatally impact birds, animals and marine life who often mistake them for food; and the filters, made of cellulose acetate, never fully disappear from the environment.
“During the pandemic Pennsylvanians have turned to state parks and forests in record numbers, as time outdoors has been critical to our well-being’” DCNR Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. “We are asking all of our visitors to help us care for these special places by leaving no trace and disposing of all trash properly. We appreciate Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful’s support in expanding cigarette litter prevention to an additional six state parks as it is a big help to our DCNR staff caring for them and providing all with the opportunity to enjoy them.”