The first road in the world to be built with cigarette butts

2024-01-08 11:40:06Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX

Bratislava is creating a new way to recycle cigarette butts. The Slovak capital's municipal waste management company announced a new push to collect and reuse discarded cigarettes by 2024.

During the city's Christmas markets, the group trialled special containers designed to collect standard cigarette filters and those found in modern heated smoking devices such as 'vapes'.

The city plans to use the discarded material to create asphalt for roads. The authorities hope that this will contribute to cleaner roads and a practical reuse of waste.

Bratislava city waste management firm Odvoz a Likvidácia Odpadu (OLO) has said it will install specially designed containers for discarded cigarettes at public events from 2024.

Although this in itself is not innovative, their use for cigarette butts is a global first.

In cooperation with the City Council of Bratislava and the companies SPAK-EKO and EcoButt, OLO will help transform the waste into asphalt for roads.

The joint project will see used cigarette filters made into special fibers that can then be made into a mixture to prepare asphalt to be used on road surfaces.

While Bratislava hopes to increase cigarette recycling in 2024 with this new scheme, it won't be the first time filters have been used to pave the way.

There is already a road in Slovakia made by EcoButt using discarded cigarettes.

It is located in ?iar nad Hronom in a central region of the country and is said to be the first of its kind in the world. The push to recycle more discarded cigarettes could have a significant positive impact on the planet.

Used cigarettes that are thrown into the ground are problematic for the environment because they release toxic substances that can pollute water, soil and ecosystems. Only one-third of cigarette butts from the 18 billion cigarettes smoked worldwide each day end up in a trash or recycling bin.

 

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