Coimbatore-based Dr. Kalam Foundation on Monday launched ‘Green Buds’, an initiative to recycle cigarette butts and make products such as pillows, toys and mattresses using the filter which is made of cellulose acetate.
District Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati launched the initiative on Monday on the occasion of the World Environment Day in the presence of Corporation Commissioner M. Prathap.
According to Kishore Chandran, founder and managing trustee of Dr. Kalam Foundation, 1,000 collection bins will be placed in all the 100 wards of the Coimbatore Corporation, mostly at shops selling cigarettes and so-called ‘smoking corners’, to collect cigarette butts.
“These butts will be collected by volunteers and shifted to a processing facility at Thudiyalur where the filter and the remaining tobacco will be segregated. While the filter will be recycled and converted as filling material for stuffed toys, pillows and mattresses, the tobacco will be processed to make manure,” he said.
Foundation’s trustee R. Hafeezur Rehman developed the technology for recycling and processing the filter after research and development work for two-and-a-half-years. The NGO has been recycling cigarette butts on a trial basis for the past one year.
“The filter is recycled using chemicals that are not harmful. After processing, the filter material will not have the stench of tobacco. It is a good alternative to stuff products such as toys, pillows and mattresses. While placing collection bins, awareness pamphlets will also be circulated,” he said. According to him, the NGO has plans to expand the collection of cigarette butts to other districts, too.
Mr. Chandran said people who worked at the recycling facility used safety gears while handling cigarette butts. The NGO aimed at providing pillows and mattresses to government hospitals and primary health centres with the support of corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds, when it started getting cigarette butts in large quantities, he added.
