Cigarette butts

The facts

• Cigarette butts are the most littered item in Australia.
• Approximately seven billion of the 24 billion filtered cigarettes sold every year in Australia are littered.
• Six out of 10 Australian smokers litter their butts outdoors.
• Cigarette butts make up about 30 per cent of the number of items littered in Western Australia.
• The Western Australian Department of Fire and Emergency Services attend approximately 700 landscape fires each year caused by discarded lit cigarette butts.

Why should I care?

• Butts littered on streets get washed into stormwater drains and into waterways where they leach toxic chemicals such as cadmium, lead and zinc.
• Butts are commonly mistaken for food by marine life and have been found in the stomachs of fish, birds, sea turtles and other marine creatures.
• Cigarette butts are made from non-biodegradable plastic and can take up to 12-15 years to break down.

Littering is illegal

Flicking cigarettes butts onto  areas such as footpaths, roads, gutters, bus shelters and garden beds is illegal and can all incur a fine. Under the Litter Act 1979 you can be fined $200 for the incorrect disposal of your butt. If the butt is lit when it is disposed of, it can lead to a $500 fine as that is regarded as ‘Littering creating a public risk’ as the butt can burn someone or start a fire.

What you can do to help reduce cigarette butt litter

• If you are a smoker, dispose of your cigarettes butts responsibly by always putting them in a bin.
• Carry a pocket ashtray with you to use when there are no bins around. 
• If you are a non smoker, or a smoker who does the right thing, you can also help make a difference by registering to become a litter reporter.