America Recycles Day, a program of Keep America Beautiful, is observed on and around Nov. 15 to educate residents of the commonwealth and encourage them to be mindful of what they consume, learn where and how to properly recycle, and pledge to recycle correctly and more often in their everyday lives.

In celebration of America Recycles Day, Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful highlighted the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program (CLPP). Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful is partnering with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to implement the CLPP at 14 state welcome centers in 2022 and 2023. The program aims to raise travelers' awareness of the issue of proper cigarette butt disposal using messaging and marketing campaigns and placing ash receptacles at entrances to rest stop buildings. The effectiveness of the program will be measured by comparing pre- and post-program scans or physical counts of cigarette butts and other tobacco products.

Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful has a partnership with Terracylce to expand the program to include recycling and composting the cigarette butt waste. Cigarettes collected through CLPP are shipped to Terracycle where the various materials that make up a cigarette are separated and processed. The filters are melted into hard plastic that can be remolded to make new recycled industrial products, such as plastic pallets. The residual tobacco and paper are composted in a specialized process.

Cigarette butts that are thrown on the ground can contaminate soil and ground water with chemicals and heavy metals and fatally impact birds, animals and marine life, which often mistake them for food. Aditionally, the filters, made of cellulose acetate, never fully disappear from the environment.

In support of America Recycles Day, all Pennsylvanians are encouraged to take the #BeRecycled pledge and promise to recycle at home, work and school, and on the go; buy products made with recycled content; and educate friends, family members, and neighbors, and encourage them to take the #BeRecycled pledge. To learn more, visit http://www.kab.org.

To find out more about the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, visit http://www.keeppabeautiful.org and choose Programs, then Cigarette Litter Prevention, or contact Michelle Dunn at mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org or 877-772-3673, ext. 113.