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Environmental Destruction

Cigarette butts are toxic waste

Published Apr 6, 2022
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Discarded cigarette butts on a sidewalk, about to fall into a storm drain to pollute the water with toxic waste

Just look around. They’re everywhere. There were over 900,000 littered cigarette butts in the US in 2020.1 Cigarette butts are the most common toxic waste found in beach and waterway cleanups and the number one item found on California highways.23

This is dangerous for many reasons, including:

  • Cigarette butts are poisonous when ingested by children or animals.45
  • The toxic chemicals in cigarette butts are a threat to our aquatic ecosystems.6
  • The substances that leach out are highly toxic to freshwater micro-organisms.7

In 2020, 190,042 cigarettes were removed from California beaches and inland waterways as part of the annual International Coastal Cleanup.8

Worldwide, it’s estimated that 1.69 billion pounds of cigarette butts end up as waste each year.9 A study conducted by the California Department of Transportation found that cigarette butts make up 34 percent of the total waste captured in California.10

The production of cigarettes is very damaging to the environment. It is estimated that one tree is consumed for every 300 cigarettes produced.11

Smoking also poses a direct threat to our forests, homes, and parks.12 Discarded cigarette butts have been linked to large wildfires, resulting in the destruction of wildlife, vegetation, and property.13 Cigarette-induced fires can burn hundreds of acres of land and have done so all over the state.14

California invested $1.1 billion in state and local waste clean-up in 2021.15 A 2009 study on the impact of tobacco waste on San Francisco streets found that tobacco waste accounted for almost 25 percent of all litter. It was estimated that tobacco product waste clean-up cost San Francisco approximately $7.4 million annually.16 Soon after the results were released, San Francisco enacted a cigarette clean-up fee which is used to clean up butts from streets, tourist venues, and storm drains.

Click the infographic here to learn more.

  1. Ocean Conservancy . (2021). (rep.). Together, We Are Team Ocean: 2020 Report (pp. 21–21). Washington D.C.
  2. Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup. We Clean On, 2021 report. Washington, DC: Ocean Conservatory, International Coastal Cleanup; 2021.
  3. Beck RW. Final Report: Litter: A Review of Litter Studies, Attitude Surveys and Other Litter-related Literature. Keep America Beautiful, Inc., 2007.
  4. Slaughter E, Gersberg RM, Watanabe K, Rudolph J, Stransky C, Novotny TE. Toxicity of cigarette butts, and their chemical components, to marine and freshwater fish [published correction appears in Tob Control. 2011 Nov;20(6):418]. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 1(Suppl_1):i25-i29. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040170.
  5. Moerman JW, Potts GE. Analysis of metals leached from smoked cigarette litter. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 1(Suppl_1):i30-i35. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040196.
  6. Slaughter E, Gersberg RM, Watanabe K, Rudolph J, Stransky C, Novotny TE. Toxicity of cigarette butts, and their chemical components, to marine and freshwater fish [published correction appears in Tob Control. 2011 Nov;20(6):418]. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 1(Suppl_1):i25-i29. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040170.
  7. Moerman JW, Potts GE. Analysis of metals leached from smoked cigarette litter. Tob Control. 2011;20 Suppl 1(Suppl_1):i30-i35. doi:10.1136/tc.2010.040196.
  8. Ocean Conservancy, International Coastal Cleanup. We Clean On, 2021 report. Washington, DC: Ocean Conservatory, International Coastal Cleanup; 2021.
  9. Carlozo LR. Cigarettes: 1.7 billion pounds of trash. Chicago Tribune. 2008 Jun 18.
  10. Lippner G, Johnston J, Combs S, Walter K, Marx D. California Department of Transportation. Results of the Caltrans Litter Management Pilot Study. Presented in Transportation Research Record 1743, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 2001.
  11. Muller, M. Tobacco and the Third World: Tomorrow’s Epidemic? A War on Want Investigation into the Production, Promotion, and Use of Tobacco in the Developing Countries. London: War on Want, 1978.
  12. Mackay, J., Eriksen, M., Shafey, O. The Tobacco Atlas, 2nd Ed. The American Cancer Society, Atlanta, GA, USA, 2006.
  13. Wildfires, air quality, cigarette butts: Smokefree Laws Save Money, lives. American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation . https://no-smoke.org/wildfire-air-quality-and-cigarette-butts-smokefree-laws-save-money-lives/. Published August 28, 2018.
  14. Lin S. Solano County, CA fire sparked by ... - the Sacramento bee. The Sacramento Bee. https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article246757541.html. Published October 27, 2020.
  15. Governor Newsom marks success of Clean California beautification efforts. California Governor. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2021/12/15/governor-newsom-marks-success-of-clean-california-beautification-efforts/#:~:text=Launched%20by%20Governor%20Newsom%20as,jobs%20to%20thousands%20of%20Californians. Published December 16, 2021.
  16. Health Economics Consulting Group, LLC. Estimates of the Costs of Tobacco Litter in San Francisco and Calculations of Maximum Permissible Per-Pack Fees. June 22, 2009.

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