This Duo Collects And Recycles Cigarette Butts - And YOU Get Paid

They like big butts and they cannot lie, you other citizens can’t deny...them of the opportunity to save our planet. Bad lyrical analogies aside, however, CODE Enterprises LLP really is attempting to save our planet, by recycling a sector largely ignored by the population: Cigarette Butt Waste.

“The biggest problem we face is the lack of awareness,” says Naman Gupta, the enterprising co-founder of this initiative. “Everyone assumes the butt is made of biodegradable waste, but it contains plastic. We carry around a lighter, to burn the butt all the way through to prove that it shrinks like plastic, and doesn’t degrade like cotton.” With a background in Commerce, he, along with Vishal Kanet, a B.Tech graduate, make for the dream team at this organisation.

With their headquarters in Noida, the duo founded CODE (Conserving Our Depleted Environment) Enterprises LLP, after witnessing the massive amount of cigarette waste generated from a single party they went to. They immediately devised the technology necessary in February 2016, and completed their paperwork in July 2016. Since then, they’ve been trying to raise awareness in Delhi, Gurgaon and Noida.

“We started at the grassroot level, working up through small scale cigarette shops in the markets. There’s one every 50-100 meters!” exclaims Naman. As it is practice for these shop owners to sweep the area around their store, after the day ends, several cigarette butts often get swept away too. Gloves are provided to these shop keepers, as well as collection tins called ‘VBins’, so these butts can be stored separately and collected after 10 days.

Cigarette butt waste is divided into three parts — Ash, Tobacco, Polymer. As an organisation that talks about recycling, it would make little sense for them to produce waste too. CODE ensures they minimize their own waste, and devised an idea for each waste product. The ash will be converted into fly ash bricks, which essentially, only the coal industry mainly makes. Tobacco is biodegradable, which led to them tying up with another company that allowed them to make manure.

Polymer is where their technology really kicks in. As you know, plastic is the bane of every environmentalist’s existence (and it should be everyone else’s too.) Naman and Vishal created their own chemical solution that they treat the polymer in. Water is also used, and the whole process takes a good 15 days. Once the process is complete, the product is then approved by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Only when the product was approved of, is it used as a stuffing material. As for the water used to treat the polymer, it is also recycled. After lab tests that label it as safe to use, they either reuse it in their polymer treatment process, or use it around their plant wherever necessary.

“As of now, we provide the stuffing material to bean bag manufacturers. We do want to launch our own brand ‘VMake’, that will sell stuffed toys, keychains, and other items we can make ourselves, from cigarette butt waste in February,” Naman says with hope. Everything in this organization is done manually, which means the process takes a little longer than it would with machines. Funds are still a little low, considering this is a fairly new concept.

In about six-seven months, they collected over a 100 kgs of cigarette waste, which is quite the amount for a self-funded organization to handle. They haven’t approached the Government yet, as they still want more of a public support system, before they present themselves.

Before they expand to other cities, they’re going to need to obtain legal tenders, after which, they can branch out. For two young minds, they’ve certainly accomplished quite a bit. They’re doing their bit for the planet. How are you contributing?

Feature image courtesy of Burhaan Kinu//Hindustan Times