Hundreds of free portable ash trays will be handed out in the city centre this week as Keep Cardiff Tidy officers continue their drive to tackle the problem of smoking litter.
The “ash cans” are designed as small airtight aluminium tubes that can hold up to three cigarette ends at a time. Neatly fitting into cigarette packets, they are intended to give smokers an easy, clean alternative to potentially discarding butts as litter.
A number of Council officers will visit Queen Street on Friday March 26, helped by staff from Keep Wales Tidy, and will be offering free ash cans to shoppers and workers throughout the day.
The Keep Cardiff Tidy Partnership is running an ongoing smoking litter campaign to help minimise the amount of smoking-related waste discarded in the city. An estimated 122 tons of cigarette ends and other related litter, such as matchsticks, empty packs and foil wind up on pavements and roads across the UK every single day.
Dropping a cigarette end is no different from discarding an empty drinks can or crisp packet and it is this message that the KCT Partnership is trying to deliver to smokers who may not look at cigarette butts in the same way as other litter.
As well as the upcoming ash can giveaway a number of other schemes are also continuing to help tackle the problem, including the recent introduction of cigarette end and chewing gum bins for a trial period in parts of the city centre, and the chance for businesses to apply for free smoking litter bins from the Tidy Towns initiative.
Discarding a cigarette end in the street is punishable by enforcement officers with a £75 fine. A recent court case in Cardiff also resulted in the successful prosecution of a driver who dropped a cigarette from a car window.
Executive Member for Environment Councillor Margaret Jones said: “As the figures clearly show, smoking-related litter remains an enormous problem across the UK. In Cardiff, our wide-ranging campaign to tackle the issues aims to better educate smokers and help change attitudes. By giving out a number of free portable ashtrays we are also trying to provide a useful alternative to littering and highlighting the issues surrounding the problem.
“Quite simply, we need more smokers to realise that throwing away a cigarette butt may not seem as bad as throwing an empty can over their shoulder in a busy street, but the implications are exactly the same. By achieving this, we’re another step closer to a cleaner Cardiff.”
The ash cans have been donated by Keep Wales Tidy – funded by the Welsh Assembly Government.
