Mamer: a “Zero Cigarette Butt” municipality
Cigarette butts are the most frequently littered waste item in the world (8 million per second!). Their plastic composition and the thousands of toxic substances they contain make them a scourge for our ecosystem. A single cigarette butt takes 15 years to degrade in nature and can pollute up to 500 litres of water.
It’s time to take action!
MéGO! is a service for sorting and recycling cigarette butts (used filters) for companies, associations and local authorities. The aim of MéGO! is to set up a dynamic collection system for cigarette butts. MéGO! takes care of the entire circular process, from recycling to transforming cigarette butts into street furniture (ashtrays, containers), and also provides statistical monitoring and a carbon footprint of the operations.
The aim is to implemente a federative approach that will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint, raise awareness among our fellow citizens, visitors and employees, and communicate about your
commitment.
Cigarette butts are then recycled to create a new resource: PlastiGO! This material is used to create street furniture for smoking areas. The material is inert and is made available in the form of a deposit so that it can be recycled ad infinitum, as part of a circular economy approach.
Location of MéGO! ashtrays in our municipality:
Mamer becomes “Zéro Mégot”
The “Zéro Mégot” project in our municipality is a response to :
- the desire to implement a responsible and sustainable solution to avoid the pollution caused by cigarette butts (as a reminder, 1 single cigarette butt pollutes 500 litres of water)
- a safety issue, since the risk of fire is greatly reduced by the installation of safe, visible ashtrays and the awareness campaign
- a cleanliness issue, since the areas used by smokers are generally the busiest and, by the same token, the image of your local authority.
The “Zéro Mégot” project is fully in line with the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) approach and is an important element of the environmental aspect. Finally, the ” Zéro Mégot ” project makes it possible to fight effectively against the throwing of cigarette butts on the ground. It helps to change smokers’ behaviour by informing them about recycling so that they find it more meaningful to put their cigarette ends in ashtrays rather than throwing them on the ground.
Around twenty public ashtrays have been installed in the municipality. Beforehand, the Luxembourg company behind the MéGO! initiative had worked with the local Environment, Energy and Mobility Department (SEEM) to carry out an audit to determine what was needed in terms of equipment for collecting cigarette butts. Subsequently, containers were installed in Mamer, Capellen and soon Holzem. These ashtrays are associated with markings on the ground, with the aim of increasing their visibility and communicating the municipality’s commitment to the environment. The ashtrays will be emptied by Mamer’s Technical Services. The cigarette butts will be stored in barrels rented by the company, which will collect them every two months, and sending them to the recycling plant.
Mamer has also acquired several mobile ashtrays with a capacity of five or nine litres, which can be used at community events (markets, fairs, etc.).
In March 2022, our municipality officially became the first municipality in the Grand Duchy to set up a voluntary collection point for cigarette butts. It was installed near the recycling centre (Route de Dippach) in Mamer. Citizens now have a solution for returning cigarette butts smoked at home or collected in the public space. The cigarette butts collected in this terminal will also be cleaned up and recycled as street furniture. This installation completes the ” Zéro Mégot ” project in place since June 2021 and carried out in partnership with the company shime.
The results of the “Zéro Mégot” system are impressive. Between June 2021 and March 2022:
- 700 m3 of unpolluted water
- 100 kg of CO2 saved compared with incineration
- 0.48 MWH of energy saved