No ifs or butts, bin it

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

In fact, 83 per cent of the streets inspected by Keep Wales Tidy had visible evidence of smoking-related litter.

Now Carmarthenshire County Council, supported by Tidy Towns, needs your help to keep the county clean.

The council is hitting the road with its biggest ever campaign against smoking-related litter and will be handing out free portable ashtrays at Carmarthen market on Wednesday, April 6, the St Elli Shopping Centre in Llanelli on Thursday, April 7 and Tesco in Ammanford on Friday, April 8 all between 11am and 2pm.

The council’s director of technical services Richard Workman said: “Many people do not think of cigarette ends as litter, but they are. They make an area look unsightly and they are difficult and very expensive to clean up – the ends fall into grates and cracks in the pavement which makes them almost impossible to remove by normal cleaning.

“We hope people will take notice of this campaign; we don’t want to fine people, but we will not hesitate to do so if they continue to litter in this way.”

A number of new litter bins have been installed in towns across the county which include ashtrays for cigarette ends.

Council environmental enforcement officers regularly carry out patrols and anyone caught dropping a cigarette end in public could be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £75. Those who don’t pay face prosecution in the magistrates court and an even bigger fine of up to £1,000.  

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!