Sustainable extinguishing, so cigarette butts become clean energy. Biogas and biomethane.

Cigarette butts cause enormous damage as we have told hereTo the incivility of some citizens, who do not think for a second before throwing a cigarette butt in a street, a sidewalk and even in a public park, are added two problems relating to collection and disposal. First problem: it's not clear. where a cigarette butt should be thrown (In reality, at the moment it is unsorted waste). Second problem: there are very few public places, starting with bars and restaurants, that do not allow their customers ashtrays in outdoor spacesFew containers for many smokers: in the world, every day, despite the fact that smoking is a vice in decline, 15 billion cigarettes are still smoked.

SUSTAINABLE EXTINGUISHER OF CIGARETTE BUTTS

The news, as usual, comes from research and technology. And the company Cushman & Wakefield, a major brand in the real estate sector, has decided to sponsor a very innovative project For the recycling and reuse of cigarette butts. No longer slow-decomposing garbage, but waste that can be transformed into clean energy.

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Reusing cigarette butts

How the flood path works The circular economyThe first step is collection. So far, 50 shopping centers and retail parks across Italy have been involved in collecting cigarette butts. Then comes phase two, with the storage and transfer of the waste, in well-sealed drums, to the dedicated thermochemical treatment plant. These two phases alone have prevented enormous waste: the decomposition time of a cigarette butt is extremely long, ranging from 5 to 12 years for the filter alone.

ENERGY FROM CIGARETTE BUTTS

The treatment plant, involved in this pilot project entitled Sustainable shutdown, is that of the company Res (Reliable Environmental Solutions) of Ravenna. Here the now former cigarette butts become aqueous carbon, thanks to a mixture of water, and above all biomethane and biogas.

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