Parks Canada’s first cigarette butt recycling program launches in Rouge National Urban Park

Did you know that cigarette butts are the most significant contributor to plastic litter worldwide? They also have the added impact of leaching hazardous metals and toxins into soils and waterways. In an effort to protect the Rouge watershed, Parks Canada is piloting a cigarette butt recycling program in Rouge National Urban Park – the first of its kind across the Agency!

To start, Parks Canada has installed cigarette butt recycling receptacles in the following locations:

• 19th Avenue parking lot
• Reesor Road Day-Use Area
• Glen Eagles Vista trailhead (Twyn Rivers)
• South Mast trailhead (Glen Rouge)
• Rouge Beach
• Finch Meander Area

To recycle, place extinguished cigarettes into the hole at the top of the recycling receptacle. The following can all be recycled in the designated receptacles: extinguished cigarettes, cigarette filters, cigar stubs, outer plastic packaging, inner foil packaging, rolling paper, and ash.

*Note that e-cigarettes should not be placed into these receptacles as they cannot be recycled and could contaminate the pieces that are recyclable. Please continue to recycle cardboard packaging in designated paper recycling boxes.

Once collected, cigarette waste is sent to Terracycle for recycling. Waste is sorted and separated – ash and tobacco composted, paper recycled, and leftover plastics transformed into raw plastic lumber planks used to manufacture goods like benches and picnic tables. Not only is waste diverted from sensitive areas, it’s also made into something useful! We thank you for your participation in the program and appreciate all your efforts to help keep the lands and waters in Rouge National Urban Park clean!