A cigarette butt is a small unit of waste, yet its impact on the environment is disproportionately large. It is one of the most common types of litter found in urban environments and coastal areas, and it contains plastic, heavy metals, and toxic substances that persist in the environment for a long time. For this reason, cigarette butt pollution is today considered one of the most critical marine and urban environmental pollution problems in Europe. Measures implemented in the municipalities of Liepāja and Riga within the integrated LIFE project “Waste to Resources IP” carried out by Ltd “Zaļā josta” demonstrate that targeted cigarette butt collection infrastructure and well-designed environmental communication solutions can significantly reduce pollution while simultaneously changing public behavior.
The activities implemented within the project were based on a simple but, until now, insufficiently used principle in Latvia: to reduce pollution, informational campaigns alone are not enough – practical, easy-to-use, and visually noticeable infrastructure is also required. For this reason, specialized cigarette butt collection infrastructure was installed in the most polluted municipal areas in the pilot territories of Liepāja and Riga, along with engaging large-scale environmental objects that serve both as tools to attract public attention and as a clear message about responsible handling of smoking-related waste.
The project is based on a data-driven approach. Control monitoring was carried out both before and after the installation of the infrastructure, using a specially developed methodology for assessing the load of smoking-related waste in urban environments and coastal areas. This makes it possible not only to observe subjective changes but also to prove with numbers whether the implemented solutions are effective.
Long-term data in Latvia have already clearly shown that cigarette butts are one of the dominant types of pollution on beaches and along the coastline. At the national level, they have been identified in more than 90% of all marine litter monitoring surveys conducted. When the methodology is adjusted so that the proportion of cigarette butts can be compared with other types of waste within the same area, an even more alarming picture emerges – in many places, they account for nearly half of all recorded litter. This indicates that smoking-related waste constitutes a structurally significant source of marine pollution in Latvia and has a substantial impact on the entire coastal ecosystem.
Meanwhile, long-term marine litter monitoring data in Liepāja show that the overall pollution situation is critical – on average 358 items of litter per 100 meters of beach, while the European Union threshold for good environmental status of the marine environment is 20 items per 100 meters. Particularly significant is the fact that, in the adjusted data, cigarette butts constitute the largest fraction of pollution on Liepāja Beach – 37.23% of all recorded litter, surpassing plastic fragments and other household waste. In absolute terms, this means an average of 22.5 cigarette butts per every 10 meters of beach in long-term data.
At the same time, the second project pilot municipality – the city of Riga – is assessed as “critical” in the long-term marine litter data profile, with 406 litter items per 100 meters of beach, based on 39 monitoring surveys conducted at four monitoring sites (Vecāķi, Daugavgrīva, Vakarbuļļi, Rītabuļļi). These figures show that cigarette butt pollution is not a marginal problem, but one of the main factors preventing the achievement of good marine environmental status in Latvia.
In this context, the LIFE project pilot territories in Riga and Liepāja serve as a test environment in which it is examined whether cigarette butt pollution can be reduced through targeted infrastructure solutions. Control monitoring shows that the installation of infrastructure is not merely a symbolic action. In places where clearly identifiable cigarette butt collection points appear, the number of cigarette butts on the ground, in the sand, and in green areas decreases significantly.
Within the project, the activities implemented by Ltd “Zaļā josta” in the pilot territories of the Liepāja municipality have achieved positive results and have significantly exceeded the initially set project goals – cigarette butt pollution in the Liepāja municipal project pilot territories has decreased by 33%.
In the municipality of Riga, the project shows even more impressive results. The project activities implemented by Ltd “Zaļā josta” were carried out on Vecāķi Beach, one of the most popular official bathing areas of the capital, with a high flow of visitors contributing to an increased pollution load. Control monitoring carried out at the end of the project shows that the activities implemented within the project – the installed cigarette butt collection infrastructure, as well as a large-scale environmental object created by an artist – were able to change visitor habits. As a result, the load of smoking-related waste in Vecāķi decreased by 41%. This once again emphasizes that targeted cigarette butt collection infrastructure combined with change-stimulating environmental objects is the key factor in changing public attitudes and reducing pollution.
An important basis for comparison is also the so-called “zero action scenario.” In areas where no preventive measures were introduced since the start of the Ltd “Zaļā josta” LIFE project, or where such measures were minimal, smoking-related waste pollution increased by an average of 9%. This means that without active intervention, the situation deteriorates.
It is important to emphasize that the project activities were not limited to the simple placement of ashtrays or waste bins. An environment was deliberately created that itself encourages responsible behavior. Large-scale environmental objects serve as a visually strong signal that cigarette butts are not a “minor trifle,” but a significant source of pollution with real consequences for the environment. Such objects simultaneously function as an educational tool, a landmark in the urban environment, and a practical place for the safe disposal of cigarette butts.
Control monitoring data allow several important conclusions to be drawn. First, infrastructure significantly reduces the entry of cigarette butts into the environment precisely in the places where people actively use it. This means that the problem is not only the public’s unwillingness to act responsibly, but often the lack of appropriate infrastructure. Second, it is evident that infrastructure also works preventively: even in areas where people do not directly use cigarette butt management infrastructure, the overall intensity of pollution decreases, because the environment itself begins to signal the desired behavior.
From an environmental protection perspective, this is particularly significant. Cigarette butts are among the types of waste that very easily enter water – through stormwater drainage systems, wind, or directly from beach areas. Each collected cigarette butt means less pressure on the marine ecosystem, fewer toxic substances entering the water, and less microplastic pollution.
From the perspective of municipalities, the LIFE project shows that cigarette butt pollution is not an inevitable component of the urban environment. With relatively simple but well-considered solutions, it is possible to achieve real and measurable improvements. This is particularly important for large cities and resort towns, where the problem of smoking-related waste becomes more acute precisely during the tourism season.
A significant added value of the project is also its methodology. The developed control monitoring approach allows not only the evaluation of this project’s results, but can in the future serve as a basis for other municipalities that wish to objectively measure the effectiveness of their preventive measures. This means that the project is not only a local solution for Riga and Liepāja, but a potential instrument at the national level in Latvia.
The experience of the LIFE project “Waste to Resources IP” clearly demonstrates: cigarette butt pollution is not only a matter of education or control. It is an issue of infrastructure and environmental design. If people are given a clear, convenient, and visually understandable opportunity to act correctly, most of them will do so.
This project shows that cigarette butt collection infrastructure is not a decorative element or a one-time campaign. It is an effective environmental protection investment that simultaneously reduces pollution, improves the quality of the urban environment, changes public habits, and delivers measurable results. It is precisely this measurability that is the most important proof that the problem of cigarette butt pollution in Latvia has a solution – if it is addressed systematically, based on data, and with a long-term vision.
