Sebastian Clemente
03/04/2020 - 16:03
- Clarín.com
- Cities
Cigarette butts are the waste that is most thrown into public roads worldwide . In the City, according to a survey made in December of last year, for two hours, in four blocks of the microcenter, more than 10,000 butts of sidewalks and streets were raised. And the calculations made based on statistics of smokers give that on paths and streets there are at least 5 million every day.
According to environmental NGOs, they cause enormous damage. And in many cities there are already laws to reduce evil and fine those who, when they finish smoking, step on the filter against the sidewalk or simply throw it so that it finishes shutting down.
Now, in the Buenos Aires Legislature a bill has been introduced that pursues the objective of combating this situation. "It is understood as a cigarette butt to the rest of a cigarette or cigarette that is left without smoking after it has been consumed; it may or may not contain traces of tobacco and may or may not contain the filter," explains the text of the project, driven long ago by the Eco House Civil Association and presented by GEN legislator Sergio Abrevaya.
At the same time, the initiative has the consensus of other blocks, as it is also signed by the deputies Lucía Romano (Together for Change), María Rosa Muiños (Front of All) and María Patricia Vischi (UCR-Evolution). For this reason, they expect the initiative to be addressed and approved this year.
"It is not a conventional waste of public roads. It is dangerous . And so, every day we step on hazardous waste. Each of the butts contaminates between 50 and 60 liters of water. Each time you touch it releases more than 100 particles of high toxicity "The butt is made of cellulose acetate, which is plastic, and the plastic endures in the environment for decades. Here, many butts go to the Riachuelo, the Río de la Plata and therefore in the ocean," explains Máximo Mazzocco , founder of Eco House and founding member of the Alliance for Climate Argentina.
From the NGO they insist that throwing the cigarette butt into the street is a habit that naturalized. They say, for example, that when they survey smokers, most say with certainty that they do not throw papers on public roads . But that the behavior is different when it comes to the cigarette butt.
According to reports made by Eco House based on own surveys, the City has about 694 thousand smokers. To them are added many others who enter daily from the Conurbano. "At an average of 5 cigarettes per person , and taking into account that according to our surveys , 80 percent throw almost every cigarette butt where it is not applicable, it gives us at least about five million cigarette butts per day," they explained from the NGO , which for years has been supporting the "Eye with butts" campaign, and added that there are no official statistics.
"We know that 80 percent of smokers throw the cigarette butt on the floor and that the nearest basket is 20 meters away," Mazzocco says, adding that "there is little and nothing done at the state level. We present a recycling project years, but we only got baskets placed in some places. "
The text of the project adds: "The problem has drawn the attention of the United Nations Organization (UN) and large organizations. The European Commission has repeatedly warned of the environmental damage caused by throwing a cigarette butt on the ground. A Although the most efficient methods for recycling are still being investigated, almost all butts are not biodegradable or compostable. "
"The cigarette butt is a hazardous waste that protects the smoker from the worst chemicals, but by retaining them it becomes toxic . That is what is thrown to the ground and that is why we ask for their prohibition. The smoker must take charge of the fate of that residue." , Abrevaya said.
The legislator is also the author of the project that was approved last year and prohibits smoking or throwing cigarette butts or cigarette remains in playgrounds of parks and squares.
This law will result in penalties for those who throw cigarette ends on public roads. The stipulated fine is thirty (30) to seven hundred (700) Fixed Units. As set according to the value of the half-liter of the premium gasoline of the Automobile Club Argentino (ACA), which is $ 21.40. Therefore, the fines would go from $ 642 to $ 14,985.
"It will be very important that it is checked later," Mazzocco insists, adding: "There is another complementary project that is the producer's extended responsibility and has to do with the tobacco companies also investing and participating in improving the quality of the butts and at the same time they have baskets and spaces to throw them ".
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