Recycling “tiny trash” — cigarette butts

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/pressroom/presspacs/CNBP_024845

ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: http://portal.acs.org/portal/PublicWebSite/pressroom/presspacs/CNBP_024846">May 12, 2010

Recycling “tiny trash” — cigarette butts

“http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/ie100168s">Cigarette Butts and Their Application in Corrosion Inhibition for N80 Steel at 90°C in a Hydrochloric Acid Solution”
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research

A new study suggests expanding community recycling programs beyond newspapers, beverage containers, and other traditional trash to include an unlikely new potential treasure: Cigarette butts. Terming this tiny trash “one of the most ubiquitous forms of garbage in the world,” the study describes discovery of a way to reuse the remains of cigarettes to prevent steel corrosion that costs oil producers millions of dollars annually. It appears in ACS’ Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, a bi-weekly journal: “http://pubs.acs.org/stoken/presspac/presspac/full/10.1021/ie100168s">Cigarette Butts and Their Application in Corrosion Inhibition for N80 Steel at 90°C in a Hydrochloric Acid Solution.”

Jun Zhao and colleagues cite one estimate that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts find their way into the environment each year. Studies show that cigarette butts are more than an eyesore. They contain toxins that can kill fish and harm the environment in other ways. Recycling could solve those problems, but finding practical uses for cigarette butts has been difficult.

The scientists showed that extracts of cigarette butts in water, applied to a type of steel (N80) widely used in the oil industry, protected the steel from rusting even under the harsh conditions, preventing costly damage and interruptions in oil production. They identified nine chemicals in the extracts, including nicotine, which appear to be responsible for this anti-corrosion effect.

[Captain Hilts]

1. Why do folks think it's okay to toss cig butts on the ground? nt

[phantom power]

2. This has been a pet peeve of mine for years.

People who I'm pretty sure would otherwise never litter seem to throw their butts out of car windows, or on the sidewalk, without even thinking about it. I don't know what percentage of smokers actually do this, but it seems as though I see it pretty frequently.

[Kolesar]

4. They could put them up their butts

lit end first

[YankeyMCC]

5. What really perplexes me is

seeing them on the trails in the White Mountains. I just can't get my mind around the thinking of a person out hiking in the fresh air, exerting themselves aerobically smoking a cigarette and then surrounded by the sublime beauty of the wilds of the Whites tossing the remains of that onto the trail.

[eppur_se_muova]

3. Why aren't cigarettes regulated as toxic waste?

Purchase of tobacco products should require proof that provision has been made to dispose of toxic byproducts in a safe and environmentally benign manner. Failing that, users should be required to hire the services of a licensed waste disposal company with each tobacco purchase.

Most smokers say they want to quit. This would help. :)