VIDEO. This company has an original way of transforming cigarette butts

Since 2017, MeGO! has recycled more than 150 million cigarette butts to make street ashtrays, among other things. In Bourg-Blanc, near Brest, since 2017, Bastien’s company has recycled 150 million cigarette butts. “The role of MéGO! is to raise awareness, place didactic ashtrays and bring smokers to the ashtrays. The cigarette butts are then collected, transported to our installation“Explains Bastien. The cigarette butts are first sorted and separated from plastics and various objects that have nothing to do with the filter. Then the filter is collected and cleaned up in a closed circuit.”We use a neutral, natural solvent, rainwater which is a solvent which will make it possible to dilute the pollutants including nicotine, (…) which is what is called “hydrophilic”, in contact with water , the nicotine molecules will polarize“, develops Christian.

The tobacco is also recovered and will be composted in an electromechanical composter to make compost. “It is cigarette filter that has been decontaminated, which we will thermocompress with residues from the grinding of waste glasses. The cigarette filter is made of cellulose acetate cables, so it’s a thermoplastic that has the same chemical properties as those found in glasses, so these two materials combine very well.“, explains Christian. With the thermocompression stage, this makes it possible to obtain a plate which will be used to manufacture the objects in question.

A single cigarette butt pollutes 500 liters of water and takes fifteen years to degrade.