Cigarette butts are one of the most abundant wastes in natural and urban environments and cause serious environmental, economic and human health impacts when they are not managed correctly.
Evolution of cigarette consumption and its associated cigarette butt waste generation in Catalonia
Source:Ministry of Finance and Public Administration
NOTE: An average weight of 0.32 g per cigarette butt has been considered.
The notable reduction in cigarette consumption in the last two decades coincides with the approval of the Spanish Laws 42/2010 and 3/2014, which prohibit smoking in closed public spaces.
Even so, still in 2022, 8,560 million units of cigarette butts were consumed, equivalent to 2,740 tons of cigarette butt waste (without taking into account the waste from rolling cigarette filters).