TchaoMegot : Recyclage & Dépollution de mégots de cigarette

Every year in France, 20,000 to 25,000 tonnes of cigarette ends are abandoned in the natural environment (350 tonnes in Paris, or 2 billion cigarette ends). A cigarette butt, and more specifically the cellulose acetate it contains, takes more than 10 years to decompose completely in nature.

This is because it is photodegradable, not biodegradable: this waste breaks down into small pieces under the effect of ultraviolet light, but does not disappear completely, just like the pollutants it contains.

As well as 80% cellulose acetate, cigarette ends also contain nicotine, organic compounds such as ethylphenol that are harmful to ecosystems, heavy metals, metalloids and radionuclides. Certain pollutants, such as furans and benzene (which are carcinogenic) are produced when cigarettes are burnt.

The filter also contains several thousand chemical substances: hydrocyanic acid, naphthalene, ammonia, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, lead, titanium dioxide, glue (triacetin), etc. A cigarette filter is penetrated by smoke containing around 4,000 chemical substances.

This toxicity increases even more when the cigarette is smoked, and the butt is even more polluting if a little unburnt tobacco remains in front of the filter. And depending on the brand of cigarette, the toxicity can be greater or lesser.

A cigarette butt thrown on the ground often ends up in the sewer. It can then pollute the water and ultimately the oceans and seas. These toxic micro-particles are then found in shellfish, fish, algae, etc.
The abandoned filter diffuses the toxins it has accumulated into the environment (into the air or water via leaching). A single cigarette butt can pollute 1 m3 of snow or 500 litres of water.

Good to know
Every year in France, 30 to 40 billion cigarette butts are thrown on the ground, 40% of which end up in the environment. This is the most widespread form of litter, and the most collected on the world’s beaches.

Most cigarette butts are thrown on the ground, and smokers are encouraged to put them in an appropriate bin. Companies in France, such as TchaoMégot, offer to recycle this waste and give it a second, more environmentally-friendly life.

The synthetic cellulose acetate fibres (viscose or rayon) that make up the filter are technically recyclable. The rest of the cigarette butt is largely non-biodegradable.

Recycling cigarette ends is a complex process involving several stages. First of all, the butts are collected (via boxes placed in companies, local authorities, pocket ashtrays, etc.). They are then recovered by specialist companies that have set up technical transformation processes.

Some use decantation in water, while others have patented waterless processes. Butts can also be crushed to reduce their size. The filters are cleaned, and then the whole process is compressed at high pressure.

Cigarette butt recycling is still underdeveloped in France, and the quantity of waste processed is tiny compared with the number of cigarette butts thrown away every day.

Butts can be transformed

Recycling cigarette ends gives them a second life and another use. Entrepreneurs have turned them into urban furniture, clothing, insulation materials, roads, bricks, compost (for golf courses), pencil pots, rulers, plastic sheets, etc.

In South Korea, researchers have transformed cellulose acetate into a ‘microporous’ hybrid material, while in China cigarette ends have been recycled to make a ‘superhydrophobic’ material (to absorb paraffin). The toxic products extracted during recycling have been used as a pesticide against young mosquito larvae that carry dengue fever…

Recycling to combat pollution and fires

Recycling cigarette butts and developing this sector will help to reduce water pollution, as 40% of the 11 billion cigarette butts thrown away every day around the world end up in the oceans. Cigarette ends are then ingested by birds and fish, upsetting the ecosystem and polluting land and water.

Collecting cigarette butts also helps to keep places where smokers congregate cleaner: in public spaces, such as the entrances to buildings and bus shelters, in green spaces, in traffic areas, on beaches, etc. By concentrating collection points, the cost of cleaning will be reduced for local authorities and for the towns and cities responsible for cleaning.

Recycling cigarette waste also reduces the risk of fire, which is very common when a cigarette butt is thrown on the ground. According to fire statistics for the Bouches du Rhône region, 16% of fires are caused by cigarette butts discarded by car drivers and almost 14% by walkers who put out their cigarettes incorrectly.

In the event of a forest fire, the offender risks a fine of €15,000 and up to one year’s imprisonment. Although the fire is caused involuntarily, the offender is considered to have breached a duty of care and safety. The penalty may be increased in the event of death.

Did you know?
The word ‘mégot’ is thought to be a diminutive of the slang word “mec”, sometimes written as meg, or may come from the popular verb ‘mégauder’, used for infants who suckle every last drop of milk. In comparison, a smoker puffs on his cigarette or cigar. The choice is yours!
Throwing a cigarette butt on the pavements in Paris has been punishable by a €68 fine since September 2015.

Recycling cigarette butts is not free of charge for local authorities and businesses.

In France, tobacco manufacturers are not subject to the ‘polluter pays’ principle. Local authorities and businesses must pay for the cost of recycling cigarette butts discarded on the public highway or in an ashtray.

Recycling cigarette butts requires innovative techniques and appropriate, and therefore costly, machinery: as well as recycling, the waste also has to be depolluted.

The cost of treating and recovering cigarette ends therefore has an impact on the free service. The depollution and recycling sector is not yet profitable simply from the sale of materials or textiles made from cigarette ends.

Prefectoral authorisation required

To store and process cigarette butts, which are considered to be hazardous waste*, French law requires organisations like TchaoMegot to have a processing site that has been authorised by prefectoral decree. The site is then classified ICPE 2790, ICPE standing for ‘Installation Classée pour la Protection de l’Environnement’ (see article R. 511-10 of the French Environment Code). The aim here is to ensure that the plant complies with the relevant standards.
This classification, indicated on a decree and given by prefectoral authorisation, concerns the storage and treatment of hazardous waste. It takes into account and clearly indicates the measures to be taken to prevent soil and air pollution. The official decree also sets out precise standards to be followed in terms of fire and safety, to ensure an environmentally-friendly process on the site.

A prefectoral decree dated 8 July 2024 authorises TchaoMegot to operate a cigarette butt collection and recycling centre. What does this mean for the company and what does it mean for its customers?