Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world, and the city of New Orleans has taken action to collect the incessant waste. The international recycling and upcycling company TerraCycle, Trenton, New Jersey, launched its first citywide cigarette butt recycling receptacles program in British Columbia, making New Orleans the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort, according to TerraCycle.

Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world, and the city of New Orleans has taken action to collect the incessant waste. The international recycling and upcycling company TerraCycle, Trenton, New Jersey, launched its first citywide cigarette butt recycling receptacles program in British Columbia, making New Orleans the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort, according to TerraCycle.

Discarded butts are being turned into something useful. The first of 50 cigarette butt recycling receptacles was installed downtown Monday. Developers of the program say New Orleans is the first US city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year.

The US City of New Orleans and the city’s Downtown Development District (DDD) are launching a pilot program to collect and recycle cigarette butts using an extension of TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Brigade – a nationwide, mail-in recycling program that is sponsored by Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co, according to a NACS (Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing) story. New Orleans is the first city in the US to implement a city-wide collection system, which launched last week with the installation of 50 new cigarette-recycling receptacles on several blocks in the city’s Downtown District. Cigarette butts collected through the nationwide program are recycled into a variety of industrial products, such as plastic pallets. Any remaining tobacco is subjected to tobacco-specific composting methods. The entire program is free to the city and its tax-payers, as TerraCycle supplies the receptacles and Santa Fe, through the Cigarette Waste Brigade, covers the ongoing program costs. Additionally, for every pound of cigarette waste collected, $4 is to be donated to the DDD to help fund green jobs throughout the city.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In New Orleans, discarded butts are being turned into something useful. The first of 50 cigarette butt recycling receptacles was installed at a downtown intersection Monday. Developers of the program say New Orleans is the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year. Trenton, New Jersey- based recycling company TerraCycle Inc. developed the program in 2012. The first citywide receptacles were placed in Vancouver, British Columbia, in November 2013. "Globally we have collected 25 million butts since November of 2012," said company spokesman Albe Zakes, adding that the company is in talks with officials in Toronto, Sydney, Tokyo, Phoenix and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Officials with the New Orleans Downtown Development District said joining the program was a no-brainer. Smokers flock to curbside trash bins and public benches for nicotine fixes, and smoking is still allowed in bars that do not serve food. The downtown area is just blocks from the French Quarter and is home to the huge Harrah's Casino. That adds up to a lot of cigarette butts. District president and CEO Kurt Weigle said a one-day sweep in 2011 turned up nearly 7,000 cigarette butts downtown. According to TerraCycle, New Orleans will be paid $4 for each pound of cigarette waste collected. The organic materials, such as tobacco and paper, are composted. Cigarette filters, though they look and feel like fiber, are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic. Once collected, they are shredded and bio-toxins removed with the use of gamma radiation, Zakes said. "It's the same exact process used on fish and other meats to assure there are no bio-contaminants, so it is very safe," Zakes said. The filters are then melted into plastic pellets for industrial use in the same way a plastic bottle would be recycled, Zakes said. "We only use the pellets for industrial applications, such as plastic lumber and plastic shipping pallets," he said. "We don't make any consumer products from this material, mostly because of the stigma around butts." Outside a patio bar and restaurant about a block from where the first receptacle was installed Monday, 23-year-old Ryan Schumacher puffed on a cigarette and said the receptacles may help break some "bad habits." Schumacher said he's among many smokers guilty of throwing cigarette butts on the ground. "I'm happy that we have somewhere to put our cigarette butts now," he said, but added that there will be smokers who just don't care. "There's still going to be the people who are stubborn about it and just throw it on the ground because that's what they're used to doing." Weigle said he is hopeful the receptacles will get used to help keep downtown clean, improve the quality of life for residents and visitors alike and promote environmental awareness. "That's something that's important to us and our stakeholders, so every chance we get to become a greener downtown, we grasp it," he said.

In New Orleans, the first of 50 cigarette-butt recycling receptacles was installed Monday. Developers say New Orleans is the first U.S. city to participate in a large-scale recycling effort launched in Canada last year. Program developer TerraCycle Inc. says the first citywide receptacles were placed in Vancouver in November. "Globally we have collected 25 million butts since November of 2012," said company spokesman Albe Zakes. Officials with the New Orleans Downtown Development District said joining the program was a no-brainer. Smokers flock to curbside trash bins and public benches for nicotine fixes, and smoking is still allowed in bars that do not serve food. The downtown area is just blocks from the French Quarter and is home to the huge Harrah's Casino. TerraCycle says New Orleans will be paid $4 for each pound of cigarette waste collected. The tobacco and paper are composted. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic. Once collected, they are shredded and bio-toxins removed with the use of gamma radiation.

Not only is New Orleans becoming the first U.S. city to participate in a wide-scale cigarette butt recycling effort, but the Big Easy will also earn a pretty penny for its trouble. A New Jersey company called TerraCycle Inc. will pay the city $4 for every pound of smokes it collects, compost any leftover tobacco, and recycle the plastic filters for reuse in building materials.