A cigarette is ready for trash only after the ember is completely out and cold. Douse butts and ashes with water before you put them in a waste container.
Do not toss a butt into mulch, soil, a planter, a street, or a storm drain. Filters contain plastic and can break into smaller pieces.
Put Out a Cigarette Completely
- Use a deep, sturdy ashtray or a bucket filled with sand.
- Stub the cigarette out fully and let it remain in the receptacle.
- Douse butts and ashes with water before emptying the receptacle.
- Confirm everything is cold, then use your local household trash route.
The US Fire Administration recommends deep, sturdy ashtrays and water on ashes and butts before trash disposal.
Do not empty an ashtray into a paper bag, cardboard box, planter, or compost. Do not use a plastic container while material may still be hot.
Handle Ashes and Outdoor Receptacles
Keep the ashtray on a stable surface away from curtains, furniture, dry leaves, mulch, and other things that can burn.
Empty outdoor butt receptacles on a routine schedule. Douse the contents and verify they are cold before placing them in the locally approved waste container.
Never smoke where medical oxygen is used. The USFA also warns against smoking in bed or when drowsy from medicine or alcohol.
Keep Butts Out of Compost and Nature
Most cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate. NOAA explains that this plastic-like material can break into microplastics.
Do not compost filters, bury them, or scatter tobacco waste. A butt receptacle keeps the litter contained until disposal or an accepted specialty program.
Do not flush cigarettes or ash. They do not belong in toilets or storm drains.
Use the Cigarette Recycling Program Carefully
TerraCycle currently offers a free US cigarette-waste program. Check its live page before collecting because accepted items and shipping terms can change.
The program lists extinguished cigarettes, filters, ash, loose tobacco pouches, outer plastic packaging, inner foil packaging, and rolling paper among its accepted materials.
It excludes paperboard cigarette packaging. Put recyclable paperboard into your local paper route only if the program accepts clean boxes.
TerraCycle requires every item to be fully extinguished and stored in a sturdy plastic container or bag, not a paper bag. Follow its current shipping-label directions.
Sort Related Smoking Products Separately
Disposable lighters, matches, vape batteries, cartridges, and liquid are separate products. Do not hide them in a container of cigarette waste.
Use our guides to disposing of lighters and disposing of vape batteries for their specific fire and battery routes.