Cigarette butts are the most littered item in Pennsylvania
Cigarette butts are the most frequently littered item along Pennsylvania’s roadways according to the 2020 Pennsylvania Litter Study where 186.2 million litter items or 37.1 percent of litter were butts. Lack of awareness that cigarette butts are a form of litter, lack of ash receptacles and the increase of outdoor smoking adds to the cigarette litter problem across the state.
In 2024, as part of ongoing efforts to reduce cigarette litter, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is partnering with the PA Turnpike Commission to implement the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP) by placing cigarette receptacles at up to 17 services plazas and interchange access buildings across the state. This initiative builds upon partnerships established since 2010 with the PA Department of Transportation (PennDOT) that placed receptacles at 14 state welcome centers and also with the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) where 41 state parks participated in the program. This has lead to an overall, combined cigarette litter reduction rate of 64%. These efforts were possible with grant funding from Keep America Beautiful.
Cigarette butts collected are shipped to Terracycle where the various materials are separated and processed. The filters are melted into hard plastic that can be remolded for various industrial products, such as plastic benches. The residual tobacco and paper are separated out and composted. Learn more about Terracyle's recycling process in their video.
To learn more about CLPP, visit Keep America Beautiful's Cigarette Litter Prevention website.
PennDOT is grateful to continue our collective efforts in litter-prevention and reduction through the CLPP program. This program is another component of Pennsylvania’s Litter Action plan and helps encourage the proper disposal of cigarette butts in receptacles instead of harming our communities and environment.
Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has been a great partner in keeping Chapman State Park cleaner. Not only by providing professional, modern receptacles and signage for cigarette litter, but also assisting with best practices for their locations. With their help, we have significantly and noticeably reduced the amount of cigarette litter in our parking lots and around our buildings.