Around 2.7 million cigarette butts are dropped on UK high streets every day – nearly a quarter of a million an hour, figures show

• Research shows 225,000 butts are dropped between 8am and 8pm each day

Nearly a quarter of a million cigarette butts are dropped on UK high streets every hour, according to new figures from Keep Britain Tidy.

Researchers estimated that around 2.7million cigarette butts are discarded on high streets on a daily basis – which amounts to around 225,000 butts being dropped between the hours of 8am and 8pm each day.

As high streets make up just a small proportion of the UK’s public thoroughfares, the figure for cigarette butts dropped across the whole of the country will inevitably be much higher.

Keep Britain Tidy, which arrived at its findings after analysing litter collected, estimated that over 12 billion cigarette ends are dropped globally every single day.

The Daily Mail has long campaigned against the scourge of litter, having supported for many years the Great British Spring Clean, organised by Keep Britain Tidy.

Keep Britain Tidy, which arrived at its findings after analysing litter collected, estimated that over 12 billion cigarette ends are dropped globally every single day

Keep Britain Tidy has created a mound using real butts to show what smokers’ litter looks like

According to the charity, cigarette butts are the most prevalent form of litter in the UK

Cigarette butts take between 18 months and 10 years to decompose. But in that time, they can release poisonous chemicals into the environment

Research has found smokers are three times less likely to see cigarette butts as problem compared to non-smokers (seven per cent vs 23 per cent), whereas attitudes to nearly all other types of litter are nearly identical between smokers and non-smokers.

Keep Britain Tidy has created a mound using real butts to show what smokers’ litter looks like collectively.

READ MORE – Give yourselves a hand! Great British Spring Clean ends… with 437,000 heroes joining the tidy-up campaign 

According to the charity, cigarette butts are the most prevalent form of litter in the UK, accounting for 66 per cent of all items.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Allison Ogden-Newton said: ‘Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the UK and the consequences to our environment, our wellbeing, and our taxpayer are far more significant than many realise.

‘A quarter of a million butts are dropped every hour on UK high streets alone – these areas are cleaned regularly, but the hour-by-hour deluge of butts makes the task of cleaning them up like painting the Forth Bridge – once you’ve finished, you just have to start again.

‘We need attitudes to change towards cigarette litter so that it is no longer viewed as acceptable, but rather as the single use plastic that it is. 

Keep Britain Tidy’s Allison Ogden-Newton with her OBE medal

As high streets make up just a small proportion of the UK’s public thoroughfares, the figure for butts dropped across the whole of the country will inevitably be much higher

‘We are asking smokers to please understand that they are contributing to a significant environmental issue in the UK and to take responsibility for disposing of their rubbish’.

Cigarette butts take between 18 months and 10 years to decompose. But in that time, they can release poisonous chemicals into the environment.

The cigarette butts survey is the first of its kind, so no comparison figures are available for previous years.

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