Satchels for cigarette butts this Clean Up Australia Day

Clean Up Australia Day will be held this year on Sunday 2 March. The annual event provides a simple way for people to clean up, fix up and conserve the Australian environment.

For the very first time, volunteers will this year be able to safely collect cigarette butts for recycling. Almost 6000 satchels will be distributed to volunteers, including businesses and community groups.

Andrew Sellick, head of environmental sustainability at Australia Post, said the organisation has worked closely with Clean Up Australia and recycling partner TerraCycle on coming up with the innovative solution.

“Once the butts have been collected, the satchel is sealed and mailed off for processing, turning rubbish into industrial products like railway sleepers and pallets,” Sellick said.

Ian Kiernan AO, chairman and founder of Clean Up Australia, said cigarette butts were “the number one rubbish item discarded last year, well ahead of other items like beverage containers and chip packets”.

“It’s fantastic to know that our volunteers are equipped this year with the new collection satchels to safely collect and send off the butts for recycling,” he said.

In 2013 an estimated 550,300 volunteers removed 16,150 tonnes of rubbish at 7341 sites across the country. Get involved in the 2014 event by registering your own Clean Up Site or by volunteering at a site near you.