Cobourg, ON (May 6, 2025) – The Town of Cobourg's Environmental Services Department invites the community to take part in a Cigarette Butt Clean-Up on Saturday, May 10, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Cobourg Community Centre (CCC).

Held in collaboration with A Greener Future, all cigarette waste collected during the event will be recycled through the TerraCycle UNSMOKE Cigarette Recycling Program. Volunteers are asked to meet in the front lobby of the CCC (750 D’Arcy Street) at 10 a.m. to pick up supplies. Gloves, buckets, and garbage grabbers will be provided.

Due to the nature of the material being collected, this clean-up is recommended for ages 19 and older. Thank you to all community members who volunteer to help clean up.

Let’s Kick Butt
Did you know that cigarette butts are the most-littered item in the world? About two-thirds of the six trillion cigarettes smoked each year end up in the environment.

Cigarette butts contain a plastic filter and the remnants of a smoked cigarette. The white filters that look like white cotton are actually cellulose acetate which breaks into microplastic fibres. Cellulose Acetate is difficult to degrade in the environment. Depending on where the cigarette butt is discarded, they take around 18 months to 10 years to break down, but they will not decompose naturally.

When these butts end up in water, they release nicotine, arsenic, tar, and even heavy metals. One littered cigarette butt can contaminate 1,000 litres of water!

For more information contact: Jennifer Leno, Environmental Services, jleno@cobourg.ca or 905-377-5881.