Sell Cigarette Butts by the kilo, only in Subic Bay!

Photo credit: Viral 4 Real

You heard that right, the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) is starting an environmental-friendly, revolutionary program in which aims to attain around 4.5 trillion cigarette butts through buying it from the public!

The Facebook post of the SBMA went incredibly viral, shared around 50,000 times with almost 40,000 reactions on the said post, this program truly caught the public’s eye.

Who would think that anyone would care to collect the one of the most widely spread waste in the Philippines? Well the SBMA would, because they are currently in a “War on Waste”, a campaign that envisions to either recycle or upcycle waste in order to save the environment from the ever-so malignant waste problem.

The cigarette butt collecting program of the SBMA is called the “heaviest butt” program, all cigarette butts that the public aims to sell should be brought to SBMA Ecology Center, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, Olongapo City.

SBMA Department Manager, Ameth Dela Llana stated that,
"There are estimated 4.5 trillion cigarette butts that litter the world every year. It contaminates our soil and waters. Through our campaign, we hope to raise awareness on responsibility of disposing wastes and litters properly."

If the study goes as it is wished, the said butts may be recycled into bricks or hollow blocks, but the following problems for the study goes as, she added,

"We partnered with a local company that manufactured their own machine for recycling and upcycling. We need 20-60 kilograms of cig butts for a study if the smell and toxicity can be removed so they can be of any other use," she added.

It is a complete first in the Philippines’ environmental resbak against the environmental plague. Revolutionary and controversial enough to get the public on it, may this be one of the many projects that will fully rehabilitate the country from the uncontrollable waste production and dumping.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com