Plastic Free launches cigarette‑butt clean‑ups across southern Italy

Plastic Free Onlus organized a national mobilisation around World Environment Day (June 5) and the lead‑up to World Oceans Day (June 8). Over the weekend of 6–7 June, volunteer‑driven clean‑ups were held in three Italian regions.

In Puglia five sites – Avetrana, Nardò (two events), Taurisano, and Rutigliano – hosted collections of discarded cigarette filters. Calabria hosted six events in Falerna, Parghelia, Montepaone, Rende, Reggio Calabria and Falconara Albanese. Abruzzo arranged six gatherings, including one in Giulianova, targeting beaches, parks and urban areas.

The campaign highlights that cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a synthetic plastic that can take over ten years to degrade and fragments into micro‑ and nanoplastics. Global estimates put annual waste at about 4.5 trillion butts; Italy discards over 70 billion per year, each capable of contaminating up to 500 liters of water with heavy metals and toxins. Organisers quoted regional representatives – Luigi Schifano (Puglia), Alberto Fio (Calabria) and founder Luca De Gaetano – stressing that “the planet is not a ashtray” and urging daily responsibility to protect soils, waterways and marine ecosystems.