Cigarette Recycling

Recycle your cigarette waste!

The Lower Polk Community Benefit District is engaging in a pilot program with Terracycle for recycling cigarettes, in April 2017, 5 cigarette recycling posts will be set up along Polk St.

Every year, billions of cigarette butts end up in dumpsters and landfills, or get tossed as litter on shorelines, parks, and sidewalks across the US. The waste collected through this program is recycled into a variety of industrial products, such as plastic pallets, and any remaining tobacco is recycled as compost.

For every pound of cigarette waste collected, $1.00 will be donated towards the Keep America Beautiful Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.

What You Can Recycle

Filters, rolling paper, butts, outer plastic packaging, loose tobacco pouches, ash.

Cigarette Waste Receptacles

The receptacles are located along Polk Street, near places where people smoke (such as outside of bars).

What Happens to the Waste

Once collected, the cigarettes and packaging are separated by composition and melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled industrial products, such as plastic pallets. The ash and tobacco are separated out and composted in a specialized process.