Slovakia is the first country in the world to build a road using an additive recycled from butts and electronic cigarettes for asphalt, and is now going to implement special containers for tobacco waste in the capital, Bratislava.
Following the innovative project in Ziar nad Hronom, a small asphalt road of about 100 meters built in October 2022 that links a park and an outdoor swimming pool, the country is launching new initiatives to recycle cigarette butts, which contain numerous polluting substances . .
In addition to contributing to a circular economy, using waste, the aim is to make progress in cleaning the environment, since more than half of cigarette butts end up on the ground, according to estimates by OLO, Bratislava’s municipal garbage collection company.
Cigarette filters contain toxic and carcinogenic substances that contaminate that soil and, with rain, water and the ecosystem of plants and animals.
Bet on recycling
Recycling consists of transforming cigarette butt filters into acetylcellulose fibers, which are added to road asphalt. It is difficult to establish the number of butts needed to make a road, since it depends on the thickness of the asphalt.
“When we built the first road in the world in Ziar nad Hronom using cigarette butts, more than 150 kilograms of our granules were used in 200 square meters. That is, more than 10 million cigarette filters and tobacco cartridges,” Hugo told EFE. Repán, manager of EcoButt, one of the recycling entities.
In addition to Bratislava, EcoButt collects tobacco waste throughout Slovakia and the monthly amount amounts to about 1.2 tons. “These are figures that I myself would never have believed. It’s amazing,” says Repán.
Ecological impact
This business opportunity means for EcoButt to invest in a new recycling line. In addition, the company has a waste collection plan, “in which a lot of diesel is consumed,” acknowledges the EcoButt manager. “We are analyzing this aspect and looking for effective solutions to reduce the number of vans and increase their capacity. In the future, electrification of the vehicle fleet could also be considered,” he says.
For now, from January 1, citizens of the capital will have one more container available in public places, in addition to the traditional ones for plastic and metal containers, beverage cartons, glass, paper, kitchen biological waste and waste. . mixed municipalities.
Not all waste is the same
Of course, it must be taken into account that it is necessary to distinguish between the different elements of tobacco residue. “Containers for collecting cigarette butts include both ordinary cigarette butts and those from devices for heating tobacco for vaping,” says Miroslav Jurkovic, CEO of SPAK-EKO, the other recycling company with which OLO collaborates.
On the other hand, “liquid refills for electronic cigarettes and Vappe are kept in black containers for mixed municipal waste,” adds Jurkovic.
Finally, disposable and refillable containers for electronic cigarettes must be delivered as electronic waste to the collection yard.
