It's a common excuse litterbug smokers use when ditching their cigarette butts: 'it's ok, ciggies are bio-degradable'. Well it turns out that is a big old myth. According to Clean Up Australia, 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year, representing a massive headache not only for the people who clean them up but also for the wider environment. Despite popular misconceptions, cigarette butts do not breakdown over time and actually have adverse effects on the environment for years to come. Cigarette butts or filters are made up of thousands upon thousands of cellulose acetate fibres which, although bad for your health, are actually recyclable. Now Brisbane City Council, in conjunction with private business Terracycle, will be collecting the cigarette butts from 100 bins across the CBD in the trial of a new recycling program. Hamilton Ward Councillor David McLachlan said that cigarette butts alone make up 30 per cent of the rubbish Brisbane City Council picks up every year. "Out there down in Moreten bay, through our drains and gutters, it is our most littered item and they don't break down, they're not bio-degradable, they're mainly plastic and they'll stay in the environment for a couple of years at least." If this trial is successful, these butts in Brisbane's CBD at least will be recycled and reused while leftover papers and tobacco will be made into compost. "We're always looking at those products that currently aren't recyclable [and] finding a way to get them recycled." Cigarette butts is the latest."