Cigarette butts

The most commonly littered item making up half of all roadside litter.  An estimated 4.5 trillion butts are littered every year.

Composition

Cellulose acetate, a form of plastic

Problem

Cigarette butts are non biodegradable and can exist in the environment as long as other forms of plastic.

The toxic residue which they are designed to trap leaks back into aquatic ecosystems.

They are found in the stomachs of fish, birds, whales and other creatures.