DNA Special: The purposeful use of cigarette butts by a Noida businessman

The smoke from cigarettes is spoiling the health of the people. Also, the discarded pieces of cigarettes after use spread dirt and pollution. Today, we will discuss cigarettes and their butt. From shopping malls to multiplexes, from chai tapri to paan shops, from small bazaars to luxurious markets like Connaught Place (Delhi), you must have seen people smoking cigarettes everywhere.

Separate smoking rooms are made for smoking cigarettes at the airport. You must have also seen people throwing away a piece of a cigarette after smoking it. You will find these pieces of cigarettes everywhere.

These cigarette butts are of no use and are thrown away as garbage. But now, this garbage has become a means of earning money. Actually, different products are being made from cigarette butts by recycling them.

A Noida businessman has not only tried to eliminate the mess by recycling cigarette butts, but he is also giving employment to many people through this. This way, using cigarette butts has become a means of employment.

By separating tobacco from cigarette butts, it is made compost, paper is made reusable. And items like toys and cushions are being made out of cotton from the filter. There can be no better way to recycle a product than this.

According to WHO, 26.70 crore people smoke cigarettes in India. A person smokes eight cigarettes a day. That is, more than 218 crore cigarettes are used in the country every day.

The weight of one cigarette butt is 0.2 grams, that is, every day 4.37 lakh kg of cigarette butts are getting accumulated in the form of dirt. This is  4,378 quintals.

That is, the weight of one day's cigarette butts is equal to 73 elephants. Now imagine how much garbage a small cigarette butt is spreading in the country. Naman Gupta is currently able to recycle only 1000 kg of cigarette butts every day. That is, only 0.22 per cent of the cigarette butts being thrown in the country every day are being recycled.