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Breathe clean air, without tobacco, and without stepping on crushed cigarette butts on the public highway.
This is the simple, but ambitious objective that the town hall of Talence (Gironde), in the Bordeaux metropolitan area, has set itself, relying on a local company, Keenat, which recycles cigarette butts in an innovative way.
This social and solidarity economy company based in Talença owns a recycling channel (ÉcoMégot) and has developed a technique for reusing material from cigarette waste, without using solvents.
A technique that respects the environment in the service of the fight against smoking, because the shredded material obtained is
"transformed into
plastic plates which will be used to create awareness panels",
a
"way of promoting
eco-gestures"
, these signs are then distributed in the city to encourage smokers not to throw their cigarette butts on the ground.
Read alsoSmoking: several French cities ban smoking outdoors
“
We place municipal innovation at the heart of our strategy
,” explains
Emmanuel Sallaberry, the mayor of Talence, to Le
Figaro .
The choice to experiment with the local recycling of butts from 24 new ashtrays placed in strategic places allows “
a triple innovation
”, explains the city councilor, both in the fields of health, sustainable development and citizen participation.
Since it was set up in mid-February, the collection of cigarette butts has therefore been carried out entirely by bicycle, to avoid the slightest pollution.
Cigarette butts cause 16% of forest fires
An action which also makes it possible to raise awareness of the harmful effects of tobacco on health, this being "
the first preventable cause of death in France (with more than 75,000 deaths per year, including 45,000 by cancer)
", recalls the city of Talence.
In March 2022, sixteen tobacco-free zones have already been set up in this municipality of around 45,000 inhabitants, mainly “
around the squares, parks, woods and playgrounds of the territory
”.
“
These spaces have been fitted with precise signage and should encourage potential smokers to limit their consumption of cigarettes and the pollution generated by their cigarette butts.
"If some verbalizations have already been given, "
the idea is not to condemn or stigmatize smokers, but to support them positively
”, specifies Emmanuel Sallaberry.
Read alsoGironde: residents of vineyards exposed to dozens of pesticides, according to an NGO
By deploying the ÉcoMégot system throughout the city, Talence not only seeks to raise awareness of smoking and to make its streets and gardens cleaner, but also to fight against pollution.
A cigarette butt thrown on the ground ends up in the sewers, in the direction of rivers and oceans, carrying with it more than 2,500 chemical, toxic or plastic-based components, recalls Keenat.
Pollution which is far from minimal because each year, "
more than 23 billion cigarette butts are thrown on the ground and end up in nature, thus polluting up to 500 liters of water for a single butt
", details the ministry. of the ecological transition.
Similar actions against smoking and to encourage people not to throw their cigarette ends on the ground are carried out in other municipalities.
In Gironde, this awareness is of particular importance after the devastating fires of summer 2022 in the department.
Cigarette butts are believed to be the cause of 16% of forest fires.
Less smoking and systematic use of an ashtray would therefore not only save lives, but also forests.