According to the Center for Marine Conservation, cigarette butt litter accounts for one in every five items collected on cleanups, making it the most prevalent form of litter ON EARTH.
Executive Summary
Globally, approximately 5 trillion cigarette butts are littered every year. Smokers in the USA account for over 250 billion cigarette butts, in the UK 200 tons of butts are discarded, and Australian smokers litter over 7 billion cigarette butts annually. In most Western countries cigarette butt litter accounts for around 50% of all litter.
4,900,900,900,999
cigarette butts littered every year
1. There are 1 billion smokers in the world today, and if current trends continue, that number is expected to increase to 1.6 billion by the year 2025.
2. Worldwide, approximately 10 million cigarettes are purchased a minute, 15 billion are sold each day, and upwards of 5 trillion are produced and used on an annual basis.
3. Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic. After discarded, it can take up to 15 years for the filter to decay.
It’s estimated that trillions of filters, filled with toxic chemicals from tobacco smoke, make their way into our environment as discarded waste yearly.
Next: Economic and Environmental Impact >