Butts are new bane of Brighton (From The Argus)

Butts are new bane of Brighton

11:51am Thursday 18th October 2007 in News

A litter survey has revealed a 43 per cent rise in the amount of cigarette butts dropped on pavements since the smoking ban was introduced. Reporter Andy Whelan asks councils in Sussex what they are doing to prevent the streets in their areas becoming covered in cigarette ends.

Wedeged between paving slabs, plonked in plant pots and floating in drains - these are just some of the hiding places for cigarette ends.

When smokers were forced to take their habit outside on July 1, councils across the country reported a surge in litter.

Keep Britain Tidy has published the first research on the rise in cigarette rubbish after the ban.

The survey reveals cigarette ends now account for 40 per cent of the country's litter.

Around 200 million butts are dropped every day in the UK, amounting to 122 tonnes of rubbish.

Responding to the survey, 98 per cent of councils said their towns and cities have a problem with smoking related litter and 83 per cent reported an increase since the ban.

Keep Britain Tidy's senior marketing manager Ginette Unsworth said local authorities should have done more before the ban was introduced.

She said: "We always knew that the smoking ban would have a negative effect on our streets.

"The number of dropped dog ends rising is no surprise because people are concerned about the fire hazard of using a normal litter bin.

"With England being the last country in the UK to bring the ban in it had the benefit of hindsight.

"It knew the problems encountered by other nations. If this had been exploited further, the level of cigarette litter may not be in such a sorry state."

Cigarette ends can take up to 12 years to biodegrade fully due to the cellulose acetate they contain.

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 specifically listed cigarettes, cigars and smoking products as being litter.

Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) has urged local authorities to issue more smokers who drop their rubbish with fixed penalty notices.

A spokeswoman said: "It is an issue which needs to be addressed quickly.

"Businesses certainly need to provide more cigarette stubbing bins for smokers and local authorities should make more on the spot fines.

"If fines were enforced people would soon get the message it is not socially acceptable to throw their ends on the floor."

Many Sussex councils have reported a rise in the number of dog ends which blight their streets.

Authorities have launched campaigns to discourage littering and some have increased street cleaning.

• Brighton and Hove City Council said it has been working with pubs, bars and clubs to clean up.

A spokesman said: "We don't have any statistics on how much more litter it involves. Street sweepers are largely taking it in their stride."

• Hastings Borough Council has also been working closely with licensees and has issued 11 fixed penalty notices for smoking related litter.

A spokeswoman said: "If there have been problems we've talked to landlords and sorted it out that way."

• A Chichester District Council spokeswoman said: "We have noticed an increase in cigarette butts littering our city streets and have had to increase street cleaning as a result."

• Mid Sussex District Council has also seen an increase in littering. A spokesman said: "Our street cleansing crews have reported cigarette littering has increased outside pubs and clubs since the smoking ban. Our response is to ensure that the area is clean by the required time every morning."

• Crawley Borough Council issued 34 fixed penalty notices to people who had dropped smoking related material from July 1 to September 30. It is prosecuting 15 people for unpaid litter fines for dropping cigarette butts. In the same period last year, the council issued 40 fixed penalty notices.

A spokeswoman said: "We've found a slight increase in butts being dropped outside pubs in the town centre and our street cleaners now go to the pubs when they start. But it's not a big problem.

"We think there is more awareness now cigarette butts are litter, particularly as the penalty is £80."

• Adur District Council has joined forces with Arun District Council and Worthing Borough Council to publicise Keep Britain Tidy's "No butts, stub it, bin it"

campaign.

A spokeswoman said: "We hope this campaign will help reduce ciggie litter - it's about awareness and education."

• Arun District Council has seen an improvement in the problem since it publicised the campaign.

A spokesman said: "Cigarette litter got worse after July 1 in certain areas but after these were targeted by advertising and have improved significantly.

"We've had an overall improvement of more than 50 per cent in areas targeted by adverts and bins."

• Worthing Borough Council recorded a 60 per cent reduction in dropped cigarette ends days after it launched a campaign in six problem areas.

Other councils say there has not been an increase in litter since the ban.

• Horsham District Council said the authority has had good results from working with businesses.

• A Wealden District Council spokesman said: "We do not have any data on cigarette litter so cannot therefore determine if there has been an increase."

• A Rother District Council spokesman said: "There does not appear to be any significant problem that is not dealt with under normal street cleaning."

• A Lewes District Council spokesman said: "We have not recorded a significant increase in the number of complaints regarding smoking litter."

• Eastbourne Borough Council failed to comment.

Has there been a noticeable increase in cigarette butts where you live or work? Tell us below