Bratislava is pioneering a new way to recycle cigarette butts. The Slovakian capital’s municipal waste management company announced a new push to collect and reuse discarded cigarettes in 2024. During the city’s Christmas markets, the group trialed special containers designed to collect both standard cigarette filters and those found in modern heated tobacco devices like vapes.
The city plans to use the discarded material to create asphalt for roads. Authorities hope this will contribute to cleaner streets and a practical reuse for the waste. Bratislava’s city waste management firm Odvoz a Likvidácia Odpadu (OLO) has said they will place specially designed containers for discarded cigarettes at public events as of 2024.
While this in itself isn’t innovative, their use for the cigarette butts is a global first. In collaboration with the Bratislava City Council and the companies SPAK-EKO and EcoButt, OLO will help transform the waste material into asphalt for roads. “If visitors to a festival, run, market or other urban event throw cigarette butts into a special container, they will contribute not only to a cleaner environment but to the material recovery of this type of waste,” Martina Čechová, manager of the circular economy at OLO.