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Scientists In Slovakia Plan To Build Cigarette Butt Road In The Country. City Hall Is Already Collecting Material In Partnership With EcoButt And SPAK-EKO.
Slovakia is using an innovative approach focused on addressing the environmental problem caused by cigarette butts, which are well-known as one of the main sources of pollution in the world’s oceans and beaches. Odvoz a Likvidácia Odpadu (OLO), a municipal company from Bratislava, is at the forefront of this technology, proposing to convert cigarette butts into material for road construction.
The city will begin collecting butts by placing special collectors at public events. According to Martina Čechová, circular economy manager at OLO, if visitors to a festival, race, fair, or other urban event place their cigarette butts in the container, they will not only contribute to a cleaner environment but also enhance the value of this type of waste.
The material discarded and collected by the city will be transformed into asphalt in a project in partnership with the companies SPAK-EKO and EcoButt. The process involves using cigarette butt waste as an additive in the production of asphalt mixtures for roads.
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On its website, EcoButt explains that the idea arose from a study published in Australia in 2017 regarding the use of cigarette filter fibers in the construction industry. In 2019, in collaboration with an accredited laboratory, the company published a study on the physical-mechanical properties of asphalt made from cigarette butts, comparing it to normal asphalt mixture and proving that the use of cigarette filters as a mixture modifier does not impact its properties.
Discoveries Made By EcoButt With Cigarette Butt
From such research, EcoButt developed methylcellulose granules to replace common cellulose granules, which are obtained from wood pulp. This way, it avoids using wood from forests and also transforms cigarette butts, a problematic waste, into a useful solution for cities. The expectation in Bratislava is also to achieve cleaner streets with the cigarette butt road.
According to the company, which offers services ranging from collecting cigarette butts with the installation of special bins to transforming the asphalt material, research shows that a cigarette filter can contaminate up to 5 liters of water under conditions incompatible with the life of a normal organism.
As a pilot, the containers were launched at the Christmas fair of artisanal products, which are quite common in Europe. The bins can collect both regular cigarette filters and electronic cigarettes, commonly known as vapes. In fact, a cigarette butt road has been installed in the country and is located in Ziar nad Hronom, in central Slovakia.
The company did not disclose data on the current status of the road that has already been developed, but with the capital’s adherence to the new project, it is deduced that the asphalt made with cigarette butts is promising.
Other Initiatives With Cigarette Butt
Besides this cigarette butt road, researchers from RMIT University previously showed that clay bricks fired with 1% of recycled cigarette butt content are as strong as regular bricks and use less energy to produce.
The analysis showed that if just 2.5% of the annual global brick production incorporated 1% of cigarette butts, it would offset the total production of cigarettes each year. The research team has now developed a detailed plan to bring together the brick manufacturing and waste management industries to implement cigarette butt recycling through large-scale brick production.
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