FREDERICKSBURG, VA — The City of Fredericksburg installed 30 new cigarette disposal units called Sidewalk Buttlers in the downtown area to help prevent cigarette litter. The city's Clean and Green Commission partnered with the Rappahannock Regional Solid Waste Management Board to acquire the cigarette buttlers from Keep Virginia Beautiful free of charge.   The new buttlers were installed in the downtown area a year after 30 units were donated in 2019 by Keep Virginia Beautiful for the City's Parks, Recreation and Events Department to use in Fredericksburg's parks. These new units are replacing the downtown "butt buckets" that the Clean and Green Commission maintained as part of its "Butts Are Litter Too" campaign.   "The downtown butt buckets served their purpose to help reduce cigarette litter, but they were labor intensive and needed to be replaced regularly," Robert Courtnage, chairman of the Fredericksburg Clean and Green Commission, said Tuesday in a statement. "Our new Sidewalk Buttlers are a more attractive and more permanent solution to help curb cigarette litter."   The Fredericksburg Public Works Department installed the cigarette buttlers. They will be emptied by Clean and Green Commission interns. The containers are mounted on sidewalk trash receptacles and are primarily located along Caroline and William Streets. All cigarette butts collected will be weighed and then recycled via TerraCycle.   Cigarette butts are the most frequently littered item. Because their filters are made mostly of plastic, they do not biodegrade. When dropped on the street or sidewalk, they may be washed into storm drains and end up in the Rappahannock River and beyond where they harm aquatic life.   Throwing cigarette butts on the ground, sidewalk, or street also is a criminal offense in Fredericksburg, which could cost the offender up to $2,500, a conviction of a Class 1 misdemeanor, lost wages and court costs, the city warned.