Reporting Enviro-Crime
If you would like to report an environmental crime such as dog fouling, fly-tipping, graffiti, fly-posting or litter in your neighbourhood, please ring 01803 207900, please provide as much detailed information as you can. Remember that the more information you can provide, the more likely it is that offenders will be caught!
The problem
Keep Britain Tidy state that smoking related rubbish is now the UK's biggest litter problem, with cigarette litter reported to be found on 78% of our streets.
A cigarette butt may be small, but if it is thrown away or dropped it is classed as littering which is an offence. The term ‘smoking related litter’ is used to describe cigarette packets, matches, silver paper, and cigarette butts or filters.
Since the introduction of smoke free legislation in England, many more people are now smoking outside and using the streets as an ashtray.
Cigarette litter:
- looks bad
- can harm wildlife
- encourages more littering
- can make an area seem neglected and untidy
- has to be cleared away
- is bad for business
The facts
As well as being ugly, cigarette butts that have been thrown away contain tobacco and a number of toxic chemicals including hydrogen cyanide and arsenic which can harm wildlife.
Some people think that cigarette filters are made from cotton and that they degrade quickly. This is not true. Cigarette butts are made of cellulose acetate, which takes a number of years to biodegrade.
It takes one second to drop a cigarette butt. Assuming it takes the same time to pick it up again, it would take one person, working eight hours a day, nearly 20 years to collect the estimated 200 million cigarette butts that are thrown away each day in the UK (source – Keep Britain Tidy).
There have been occasions in Torbay where cigarettes have been responsible for starting fires in litter bins.
The message
Smoking is a personal choice. Dropping cigarette butts is littering. Smokers are encouraged to ensure that their cigarette is fully extinguished before disposing of it in a suitable container such as a cigarette bin or a personal ashtray.
In October 2009 Torbay Council will be launching an anti-cigarette litter campaign to raise awareness that cigarette butts are litter. The campaign will feature ‘cheeky’ artwork and will encourage smokers to bin their butts.
Perceptions about litter
Most littering is preventable and some people may not even be aware that they are committing littering offences. Different people may have different views of what littering actually means, for example some people might think that spitting chewing gum out on the floor or dropping a drinks can is unacceptable, but that dropping small items like a cigarette butt or a sweet wrapper is okay. If lots of people take that view, those little pieces of litter can soon add up to a big problem.
The penalty
Dropping cigarette butts is classed as littering. Those that are caught littering may be issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for £75. Fixed Penalty Notices are issued as an alternative to prosecution. This means that if someone receives a Notice and chooses not to pay it, they could face a higher fine or be prosecuted at Court.
Tips
If you know someone that smokes, you may want to encourage them to:
- Get a portable ashtray. Portable ashtrays are available from high street shops and the internet. A limited number of portable ashtrays are being made available free of charge by Torbay Council from the Torquay, Paignton and Brixham Connections offices. Please note that stock is limited, and therefore a free personal ashtray cannot be guaranteed.
- Use an ashtray if they are outside a café, restaurant or pub that allows smoking (if there isn’t one available most staff will try to provide one or there may be a wall mounted ashtray near the entrance).
- Use wall mounted cigarette bins if they are in town (these are sometimes located outside shopping centres) or cigarette bins which are placed on some of Torbay’s litter bins.
- Always ensure that cigarette butts are stubbed out properly to avoid any risk of fire (including in the home).
- If no cigarette bins are nearby, cigarette butts should be stubbed out fully to avoid any risk of fire and placed in a public litter bin.
- If you know someone that would like to stop smoking, but needs some advice or support, contact the Torbay NHS Stop Smoking Service on telephone 01803 299160
Video
Keep Britain Tidy has released a new short film aimed at stopping cigarette litter. View the Big Cig Advert .
.Find out more
If you would like to know more about cigarette litter and how you can help tackle it in Torbay, contact the Community Protection Team.
Contact Community Safety
- Tel: 01803 208025
- Email: community.protection@torbay.gov.uk
- Fax: 01803 208854
