Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful partnered with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to implement the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program at 17 service plazas across the state with a $20,000 grant received from Keep America Beautiful.

The program began with a scan, or physical count, of cigarette butts and other tobacco-related products littering each service plaza. Seventy ash receptacles were installed at the entrances to buildings and other transition points. Two additional scans were performed, with a final reduction rate of 43% after implementing the program for eight months.

Educational messaging about the consequences of cigarette and other tobacco-related litter was displayed at the participating service plazas.

The program partners with TerraCycle to recycle collected cigarette butts, turning waste into reusable materials. 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 separated out and composted in a specialized process.

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

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, program coordinator with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, at mdunn@keeppabeautiful.org.