Giving cigarettes a second life: The E-Tijolo project

Abstract

Nowadays, the problematic of cigarette butts is increasingly evident. Cigarette butts waste is a huge pollutant, the problem begins with tobacco manufacturing and transporting. Researchers estimate the annual global environmental costs of tobacco manufacturing results in 2 million metric tonnes of solid waste, 300 000 metric tonnes of nicotine-contaminated waste and 200 000 metric tonnes of chemical waste (Lee, Botero, & Novotny, 2016). The Carnegie Mellon University's Green Design Institute performed an Economic Input-Output lifecycle assessment (EIOLCA) concluding that USA's tobacco industry by its own is responsible for releasing 16 million metric tonnes of CO2 (Proctor, 2012) . Deforestation is the first negative consequence of the tobacco industry, being responsible for 4% of the worldwide deforestation (Lee et al., 2016).In a worldwide perspective, in 2012, 6.25 trillion cigarettes have been consumed, releasing through the smoke denotative amounts of toxicants and pollutants directly into the environment. In a single year, the global tobacco smoke contributed with thousands of metric tonnes of carcinogens, other toxicants, and greenhouse gases. The toxic emissions include 3000-6000 metric tonnes of formaldehyde; 12000-47000 metric tonnes of nicotine; and the three major greenhouse gases found in tobacco smokecarbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxides (DeBardeleben, 1981;Aeslina Abdul Kadir & Mohajerani, 2010).The post-consumer waste cigarette butts also impact the environment. About two thirds of used cigarettes are being thrown away on the ground, resulting, each year, between 360 and 680 million kilograms of waste tobacco products in the world. Although the waste volume is frightful, the main harmful problem is the 7000 toxic chemicals contained in burnt cigarettes. Those toxic chemicals accumulate in the environment, ending up on the streets and contaminating fresh and marine water. Cigarette butts discharged contain dangerous chemicals including nicotine, arsenic, heavy metals (such as lead, copper, chromium, and cadmium) and PAHs, which can induce public health problems, such as cancer (Novotny & Slaughter,