Where do Cigarette butts go?

A cigarette filter is cellulose acetate — a plastic — loaded with the tar and heavy metals it was designed to trap, and it is the most littered item on earth. Dropped in a gully it goes to a watercourse and leaches. Put in a bin still smouldering it is a routine cause of litter bin and wheelie bin fires, which is why the instruction is to extinguish first, properly, not just to stub it. Portable pocket ashtrays exist and solve the problem outdoors. Ash itself is harmless once cold and goes in general waste. No council collects butts for recycling, so general waste is the answer in every area.

How to prepare it

1. Extinguish it fully — a stubbed butt can smoulder for many minutes.
2. Use a pocket ashtray outdoors.
3. Let ashtray contents go cold before emptying them into a bin.

What not to do

• Never bin a lit or warm butt; bin fires start this way constantly.
• Never flick one into a drain or a verge — the filter is plastic and it leaches.

Kerbside collection rules genuinely vary by council and county, and local rules always win over general guidance. The reasoning above is what transfers — if your service differs, it will usually be for a reason described here.

Other things that go to general waste bin

• Used cooking oil Let it cool, seal it in a container, and put it in general waste — or take it to an oil bank.
• Polystyrene and foam packaging General waste almost everywhere. It is recyclable in principle and collected almost nowhere.
• Incandescent and halogen bulbs General waste, wrapped. They are not recyclable glass and not electrical waste either.
• Crisp packets and snack wrappers General waste, or a supermarket soft-plastics bin where one exists. Not the kerbside recycling.
• Broken glass Wrap it thickly and put it in general waste, unless it is a broken bottle or jar — those can go in the glass bin.
• Dried-out paint and empty tins Once the paint is solid, many councils take the tin in general waste or as scrap metal. Check yours, because this one genuinely varies.
• Cling film General waste. It is excluded even from soft plastic collections almost everywhere.
• Till receipts General waste. Thermal paper is coated, not printed, and it should not go in with paper or compost.
• Wet wipes and makeup wipes General waste. Never the toilet, whatever the packet says about flushability.
• Dog waste Bagged in general waste, or a dog waste bin. Not the food waste caddy, and not the compost heap.
• Nappies General waste, bagged. There is no kerbside recycling route for them anywhere in ordinary use.
• Cat litter General waste, bagged. Clay litter is not compostable, and cat faeces carry a parasite that keeps it out of the garden.
• Medicine blister packs General waste in most places, or a pharmacy collection scheme where one exists.
• Greetings cards with glitter or foil Tear off the plain card and recycle that; the glittery part goes in general waste.