No butts about it – bin it!

DID you know that discarded cigarette ends make up the largest proportion of litter in Carmarthenshire?

In fact, around 83% of all litter found on the county’s streets is smoking-related.

The council is taking a zero tolerance approach to anyone caught dropping cigarette ends or any other type of smoking-related litter such as cigarette packets or matches.

Figures show that last year a total of 97 people were issued with fixed penalty notices for £75 for dropping cigarette ends by council environmental enforcement officers.

Not only do they make an area look unsightly but cigarette ends are difficult and costly to clean up as they fall into grates and cracks in the pavement which makes them almost impossible to remove by normal cleaning methods.

Executive Board Member for Environmental and Public Protection Cllr Jim Jones said: “Dropping litter is against the law and dropping a cigarette end is no different from throwing away any other sort of litter.

“Anyone caught by our enforcement officers will be given a fixed penalty notice or even prosecuted in court where the maximum fine is £2,500.”

According to Keep Wales Tidy, the smoking ban introduced in Wales in April 2007 saw a 72% increase on smoking-related litter on the streets.

Cllr Jones added: “Businesses also have a responsibility to keep the land around their premises clear from litter – failure to do so could result in a litter clearing notice being issued. If customers will be smoking outside premises, we would advise business owners to think about where they are going to stub out their cigarettes.

“We do not want to fine people, but we are determined to keep Carmarthenshire clean for both our residents and visitors.”

FOUL FACTS:

• Cigarette ends take up to 12 years to break down and can be eaten by children and animals and can contaminate water supplies because they contain toxic chemicals, such as cadmium, lead and zinc which leach into the soil and waterways.

• Roughly 211,700 cigarette ends are being littered every day in Wales – that equates to 77.3 million a year!