Cigarette Recycling on Campus

Place a FiltraBin cigarette recycling unit from Trinity startup FiltraCycle on campus to collect cigarette waste.

Cigarette butts are the most common item of litter on the planet, and one of the most toxic forms of ocean plastic. Cigarette butts littered on the street are washed into storm-drains when it rains, and from there they are carried into our rivers and seas. FiltraCycle is a Trinity student startup that collects and recycles cigarette butts into a plastic raw material that can be used to manufacture sustainable products. One pair of sunglasses made from our plastic could save enough water from nicotine and microplastic pollution to fill a swimming pool. We have already recycled 250,000 cigarette butts in a small industrial pilot of our process, and received expressions of interest from two Irish eyewear brands in purchasing our plastic. We have raised €36,000 so far from TCD LaunchBox and EIT’s Climate KIC, and €20,000 privately. The FiltraBin is a smart-sensor cigarette waste recycling bin that will prevent cigarette litter and provide FiltraCycle with a stable supply of material to recycle. We have a paid pilot planned with Santry Tidy towns, and we would like to add a unit located in Trinity College to that pilot. The primary objective of this project is to reduce the amount of cigarette litter on campus. We expect the project to make students aware that cigarette butts are not biodegradable but can be recycled, reduce the amount of litter (and reduce cleaning costs) at the chosen location for the unit, and provide data on the FiltraBin product for a wider rollout across Dublin. We intend to build a commercial scale recycling facility in Dublin in 2022, with the capacity to recycle 1.6 million cigarette butts per day, generating 40 tonnes of recycled plastic per year. Waste collected from this project will be stored until the commercial recycling facility is operational.

The bin can be installed anywhere on campus, but the entrance to the Arts Block is notorious for cigarette litter, so this would be an ideal place for the trial unit.

550 EUR to pay for the fabrication of 1 stainless steel FiltraBin, and 50 EUR to cover collection costs for 1 year.FiltraCycle will carry out the installation and a waste management partner can manage collection from the units.

Those involved in collection and installation of the unit will wear proper PPE.