smart. clean. sustainable.
smart. clean. sustainable.
Clean City Lab
The quantity of litter in our cities varies hugely around the world, reflecting the different approaches in tackling the problem. This Clean City Lab paper reviews the evidence and findings of anti-littering approaches among several European cities and highlights some best practices and key principles to take into consideration when deploying anti-littering measures.
The individual ordinary act of littering a cigarette butt does not give most smokers a feeling of spoiling the cleanliness of the public space, or the environment more generally. And yet it does, via the millions of individual acts of littering.
An analysis of inappropriately discarded cigarette butts found they are the most frequently littered items in the world. The University of the Côte d'Azur estimates that 300 billion cigarette butts are littered annually in Europe, 12 billion of which end up in the oceans. The majority comes from cigarette butts littered in cities, which reach the aquatic environment through urban water collection systems.
This litter lasts for a long time. Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a bioplastic made from natural cellulose fibers. Most cigarette butts end up in private bins or municipal waste bins and are treated as part of our general waste. However, if cigarette butts are littered in the environment, they degrade over several months or several years, and may be eaten by wildlife.
In cities, even though cigarette butts are considered less of an issue for the public than bulk waste or dog fouling, they are the most numerous waste type. On the basis of surveys in the city center, the city of Geneva has estimated that between 200,000 and 500,000 cigarette butts are littered every day, which represents 40 to 100 kg of waste — that is between one and 2.5 cigarette butts per resident per day. Depending on the frequency and quality of cleaning, these will accumulate in urban spaces.
In Geneva, Cortexia measured between 50 and 100 cigarette butts per km of pavement (compared to 30 pieces of paper and 5 cans). The anti-littering organisation Litterati manually counted an average density of one cigarette butt per m² in 25 highly frequented areas of a European capital, where this litter represented 80% of urban litter by number and 40% by volume. In France, the Association of Cities for Urban Cleanliness (AVPU) counts an average concentration of hotspots (10 butts per 10 m²) every 210 m for a standard 2.50 m-wide pavement, i.e., a ratio of 0.19 per 100 m² of roadside.
Cigarette butts, along with bulky waste and dog fouling, are considered by urban cleaning officials to be among the most serious problems of urban cleanliness. Many cities have implemented substantial action plans to curb this blight.
Cities without cigarette butts are better for residents and the environment. A change in attitudes and social norms is necessary, but will take time. After analysis of the levers for action already available to urban cleaning services, it appears that an analysis of critical areas and targeted intervention — such as improving the efficiency of litter bins and ashtrays — can lead to measurable results.
Several studies have sought to understand the attitudes and behaviors behind the littering of cigarette butts. It seems that social norms play a major role and that smokers are not always aware of the consequences of their act. Some smokers also seem to be reluctant to throw their cigarette butts into the street waste bins for fear of a fire.
These attitudes and behaviors are not fixed, but change depending on the context. The three organisations Litterati, Carto, and Cortexia have created a consortium to objectively measure the progress of one cigarette manufacturer which has committed to halving the plastic litter from its products by 2025. In a pilot project in Lisbon — the European Green Capital for 2020 — the quantities of cigarette butts were monitored throughout the city. This information was then combined with local demographic and economic characteristics.
The highest concentrations of cigarette butts were found in areas with higher unemployment rates, as well as on sites frequented mainly by non-residents (tourist places and working populations). These people may feel less concerned with maintaining the cleanliness of a place where they do not live (a person on holiday does not always behave as they do at home), as they probably feel less connected to that area. The same people also use public transport a lot and spend time waiting at stops. Residential areas also have a significant concentration of cigarette butts; it has not been verified whether this was due to the frequency of cleaning or the negligence of residents. Conversely, fewer cigarette butts were found in Lisbon's shopping areas.
Differences in behavior depending on the neighborhood were also observed in Paris, regarding the proper use of ashtrays. Inappropriate acts are more frequent in residential and festive areas. Three quarters of these acts are carried out by men.
The cleanliness of the place also influences behavior. Unclean areas — for example when there are overflowing waste bins or bulky waste items left in public view — make the smoker's gesture of "adding" a cigarette butt more relative. On the other hand, a clean urban environment is the first step in a virtuous circle.
The "three Es" approach sums up the steps that many cities have taken to control the issue of cigarette butt littering: "Educate, Enable, Enforce." It is about putting in place a framework and the actions to prevent cigarette butts from being littered. For example, the French city of Mulhouse has committed to a multi-year project that illustrates the range of possible actions:
The "nudge" is a technique for changing behavior through incentives, without constraint or obligation. The nudge acts on the irrational part of the decision, often in a playful way. One of the best-known examples for cleanliness is the ballot bin, developed in London, which allows smokers to vote with their cigarette butt for their favorite football team. This has proved successful regardless of the user's interest in environmental issues.
The issue of fines is the most controversial littering issue in the press. Fines for cigarette littering are becoming common in Europe, and vary from small amounts to over EUR 100 depending on the city. In Mulhouse, the application of a regulatory framework allows "public peace officers," in addition to police officers, to distribute fines. There have been around fifty per year over the past three years.
Stéphanie Libois, head of the cleaning service for the metropolitan area of Mulhouse, said: "Our field teams note that the situation has improved overall. A person caught littering a cigarette butt knows that they are not allowed to do so. They have no more excuses; there are sufficient ashtrays. The public peace officers contribute to reinforce the social norm."
Having effective urban equipment (the "Enable" element of the "three Es" approach) is a necessary condition which has proven its importance.
The City of Paris and the company Plastic Omnium have conducted a study on the effectiveness of street litter bins. The gestures of passers-by were observed for 80 hours at 10 sites. According to Laurent Dalibon, one of the study's authors: "Overall and contrary to popular belief, the bins are mostly used correctly, since 75% of the actions are correct. However, the vast majority of non-compliant actions (75%) concern cigarette butts. In the public space, 6 out of 10 cigarette butts are thrown to the ground." Across the country, the OpinionWay study for Mission Mégots conducted in July 2020 found that about 12% of all cigarette butts are littered, which represents about 7.7 billion butts, or 1,500 tonnes of plastic filters.
There are two factors that improve the efficiency of the bins. On the one hand, nudges have halved non-compliant uses (reported during the three weeks following the installation of the nudge). On the other hand, the function of the stubbing plate and how to handle the cigarette butt must be instantly understood by the user (especially if it is necessary to extinguish and then throw the cigarette butt into the bin bag).
In a study conducted with the City of Geneva as part of the Clean City Lab, Cortexia tested two types of litter bins. On the existing model, a horizontal metal sheet acts as a stubbing plate; smokers must then throw their extinguished cigarette butts into the plastic bag. In practice, most smokers leave their cigarette butts on the stubbing plate. The new model designed by the cleaning department is equipped with a more visible stubbing plate on top of the bin, which opens directly into a recovery drawer.
Under similar conditions, the new model has enabled a 50% reduction in the amount of litter on the ground (for cigarette butts as well as for other litter).
The causes of littering vary from place to place. The same can be expected for littering rates, which the AVPU statistics confirm. Logically, the improvement actions to be taken should focus on those areas and circumstances where most of the littering happens (places and causes).
The city of Montreux has street litter bins without ashtrays. According to Patrick Aubort, head of the urban cleaning and green spaces department: "Our elected officials are regularly approached about the issue of cigarette butts. We have sought to better understand the problem. A map of cigarette butts throughout the town showed that in fact less than 5% of the streets and squares are affected. Instead of equipping the 900 city litter bins with ashtrays, we focused on the 200 in these critical areas. Results: fewer cigarette butts on the ground, less investment, and less maintenance."
In its "Petit Voyou" campaign, the city of Geneva has implemented an innovative approach. First, it mapped the entire city and identified the areas with a high concentration of cigarette butts (hotspots). Then it looked for the causes, through field analyses and user interviews. It then adapted its means of action to each local cause: awareness-raising, mediation by the local NGO "Association pour la Sauvegarde du Léman," distribution of pocket ashtrays, addition of ashtrays in visible places, and so on.
As a more recent pilot project carried out in Lisbon shows, correlations with demographic data make it easier to understand the causes, and enable more targeted action. It would be possible, for example, to act on the casualness of tourists through actions in dedicated places, such as tourist offices.
Identifying and understanding the littering hotspots is therefore a fundamental prerequisite to deploy anti-littering measures in a coordinated and efficient manner.
Too many cigarette butts end up each year in rivers, lakes and oceans. Since cities are the source of most of the marine pollution from cigarette filters, improving the cleanliness of our cities will greatly reduce the release of cigarette butts to watercourses. Anti-littering campaigns, the actions presented above, and efficient cleaning are all particularly important.
There remains, however, the problem of cigarette butts being thrown directly into the stormwater drain by the smoker. Mauro Lorenzi, head of Geneva's Clean City department, comments on the lessons learned from the "Petit Voyou" campaign: "We realised that smokers thought they were doing the right thing by throwing their cigarette butts into the drains. They were not aware that their butts were going to end up in the lake. We therefore placed signs on the drains."
This form of communication had already been implemented in other cities, such as Cannes and Nice, for example.
Awareness campaigns aimed at smokers often focus on the nuisance of cigarette butts (the amount of water polluted by a cigarette butt). It is perhaps surprising that campaigns do not focus more on making the public aware that throwing a cigarette butt down the drain means it will end up directly in nature, polluting the oceans.
As this is an issue not only for cigarette butts, but for all types of litter, strengthening the social standard of preserving our rivers and seas can be a driving force for behavioral change.
Under the action of associations for the preservation of the environment, a new awareness of the seriousness of the problem of cigarette butt littering on our streets is underway. The European Community has included this waste in its directive on single-use plastics. EU Member States, as well as cigarette manufacturers, are already mobilising. This new focus can change behavior and reduce the flow of cigarette butts to nature. Progress will have to be measured and monitored, in order to ensure a perfect match between resources and results.
In the cities, the participation of all the players concerned is essential: "The change of social standards requires a global approach with the prescribers: tobacconists, shopkeepers, bar and restaurant owners, and companies whose employees smoke outside," underlines AVPU general secretary Hervé Guillaume.
The primary role of urban cleaning departments will be strengthened: it will be a matter of identifying critical areas, and understanding their specific problems, in order to act in a targeted manner. The mapping of cigarette butt densities offers a novel approach to increase the effectiveness of the actions taken and reduce their costs.
Localised actions and adequate infrastructure — especially well-designed and visible bins — are simple approaches that have been proved to be effective.
It has been shown that well-placed, well-designed and highly visible litter bins with stubbing plates reduce waste on the ground by at least half. Nudging also has a measurable effect on the amount of cigarette butts around the bins, although quantified data is still lacking to confirm whether these gains are sustainable.
At the same time, smokers must be made aware of the fact that stormwater drains are not ashtrays, which can be made clear by employing creative and playful communication on these drains.
Today, many actions have been taken by cities. However, few cases have documented their effectiveness. The risk is in multiplying these actions without first ensuring that they really bear fruit and actually reduce the amount of litter ending up in the environment.
Cortexia recommends that the results be systematically measured by an objective measurement of cleanliness. This would also make it possible to select and share best practices. Cities would therefore become — at a lower cost — clean living spaces which are easier to keep clean, thus freeing the environment from the weight of this waste resulting from neglect and inappropriate human behavior.
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