SMALL ACTIONS, BIG CRIMES
The national awareness campaign against the abandonment of cigarette butts in the environment promoted by Marevivo in collaboration with British American Tobacco Italy under the patronage of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and ANCI – National Association of Municipalities Italians wants to raise awareness of the risks related to littering, or the deliberate or involuntary abandonment of small waste in the environment
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6 trillion
of cigarette are smoked every year in the world
4,5 trillion
butts are thrown in the environment every year
5 million
butts are abandoned on the beaches every day
Cigarette butts are considered the most common form of personal waste in the world. Small, but generated in large quantities
According to a report by Ocean Conservancy (2016), in 2015 in a single day 5 million butts were collected on the beaches of over 100 countries.
In the Mediterranean cigarette butts represent 40% of the waste (9.5% are plastic bottles, 8.5% plastic bags, 7.6% aluminum cans). The filters are not biodegradable, they become microplastic and remain in the sea forever. Littering is one of the causes of pollution of our seas and beaches. Butts are one of the most common waste on the beaches, releasing harmful substances into the sea creating major damage to the marine ecosystem.
The 2021 Campaign
The images of the stages of Fermo, Catania, Bari, San Felice Circeo, Cecina, Viareggio
The press conference video to present the results of the 2021 Campaign
The Campaign video
ACTIVITY REPORT 2021
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Main objectives of the campaign
1
Raising awareness and educating citizens on the issue of environmental respect and the consequences of negative behaviours
2
Fight the abandonment of butts through the correct placement in the city of bins and the distribution of ashtrays pocket to the citizens
3
Raising awareness among local institutions
The press conference for the launch of the campaign
SORRENTO CITTÀ PILOTA 2020
Studies and surveys
The initiative has included the monitoring of 16 sites, chosen between the more frequented zones of the city of Sorrento, where there have been collected, analyzed and quantified the various types of waste in two distinct moments pre and post campaign, with the aim of verifying the actual results of the initiative. The investigation was conducted using drones to capture images of every monitored areas.
The Crime Scene
First step July 23rd 2020
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AICA survey
Big crimes, small and big polluters
Data monitoring and analysis
Altran, part of the Capgemini Group and world leader in engineering and R&D services for companies, in collaboration with Penisolaverde, will monitor the amount of hubs present in the baskets of the central areas of Sorrento, thus highlighting the changes in population behaviour as a result of the campaign and thus the effectiveness of awareness-raising operations.
Ellipsis, an innovative London-based company, will analyze aerial shooting with pre and post campaign drones. Through its AI, it will identify areas where waste is present, recognise the type and quantity of waste, and generate related heat maps with sophisticated technologies. These maps, available on an open-source platform, will allow you to structure and activate future targeted and effective intervention plans.
Litterer identikit
The environmental pollution caused by littering was the subject of a survey carried out by AICA in collaboration with the University of Turin and under the patronage of the Ministry of the Environment. The study showed that out of 100 smokers observed more than 70 have abandoned their hubs in the environment, without therefore making use of ashtrays or bins. AICA has also traced a sketch of the subject most likely to have an incorrect behavior: he is male, over 50 or aged between 20 and 24 years and if he is in group (more than 4 people) tends to assume a lax behavior and little respectful of the environment.
In detail, it is noted that in 69.4% of cases women adopt correct behaviour compared to 60% of men
The areas where there is a tendency to “pollute” more are the semi-peripheral areas of the cities, the areas near schools and universities, followed immediately by the tourist resorts
These are in fact the places where the lowest percentages of correct behaviour are recorded, and therefore where it is easier to find waste on the ground, respectively in 58.5%, 49.1% and 60.8% of cases.
A great threat to the environment
There are over 5,000 elements in cigarettes. Of these, at least 150 (44 of which were found in large quantities) are considered to be highly toxic, mainly because of their carcinogenic and mutagenic potential. When burned, many of the chemicals in cigarettes produce new elements, and those with the highest toxic potential are concentrated primarily in the tobacco remnants and filter. These compounds can be released and contaminate soil, rivers and the sea.
After the rapid deterioration of the external paper, the degradation proceeds very slowly in all environmental conditions: after two years at sea a hub has lost less than 38% by weight and the longer it remains in the environment, the greater the pollution caused. A single hub can contaminate up to 1000 liters of water and the main compounds released include nicotine and its derivatives, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and metals.
Butts eaten by fishes
Chemicals in cigarettes can also be harmful to marine organisms. Studies currently underway at the Polytechnic University of Marche have shown that substances released after 24 hours from 10 butts in a liter of water inhibit 50% growth of microalgae. Even less (from 0.3 to 2.5 butts per litre) is needed to cause obvious malformations in the embryonic development of the oyster. The extracts obtained from the cigarette butts cause cytotoxicity effects in mussel tissues after 72 hours.
Also frequent is the ingestion of butts by fishes, birds, turtles, whales and other marine creatures (Sapienza - University of Rome)
According to research, filter substances were found in 30% of the turtles and 70% of the birds tested. Through fish, these substances can reach even humans.
Correct disposal of cigarette butts
Cigarette butts should be thrown into the undifferentiated, which is usually indicated by the gray bin. Deciding to dispose of them differently, maybe throwing them in the toilet or on the street, causes serious damage to the environment.
Recycle of butts: is it possible?
In recent years more and more ideas and proposals have emerged to recycle cigarette butts, for example in the creation of plastic pellets or building materials.
The project is in collaboration with BAT and with the patronage of the Ministry of Environment


