Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter in the world, with over 6 trillion tossed each year. And because they’re made of plastic, nicotine, tar, and heavy metals, they’re not just a public health risk — they’re an environmental hazard.
Fortunately, researchers have developed a way to recycle discarded cigarette butts — while diverting heavy metals away from soil and water. And they’re doing it by adding discarded butts to clay-fired bricks.
By adding roughly 1% cigarette butt material to the brick mixture, the bricks maintain structural integrity while using less energy during production, and repurposing would-be waste.
“Firing butts into bricks is a reliable and practical way to deal with this terrible environmental problem, while at the same time cutting brickmaking production costs,” said Abbas Mohajerani, lead researcher and associate professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Not only does the lower energy use reduce energy consumption in brick kilns by 10%, but the lighter bricks also provide better insulation, resulting in lower energy costs for the home.
The researchers believe that if their methods were widely adopted, recycling cigarette butts into building materials could significantly reduce global pollution and help make construction more sustainable.
“My dream is a dedicated brickmaking recycling facility in every country that can recycle butts and solve this pollution problem for good,” Mohajerani said.
A version of this article originally appeared in the 2026 Environment Edition of the Goodnewspaper
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Header image via Fatih KÖRKÜ
