Cigarette Butts - More Good News

Photo: Middlewich Guardian

Recent figures show huge falls in cigarette litter in the town. The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and Japan Tobacco International (JTI) joined forces with the Middlewich Clean Team last February and placed 34 cigarette butt bins around the town, including various pubs, clubs and the town hall.  The aim was to make Middlewich a nicer place to be by dramatically reducing Middlewich's contrubtion to the approximate 5 tonnes of smoking-related litter discarded every day in the UK.

Success came quickly and last July we reported a drop by half of smoking related litter and the latest news is that there is now a reduction of 71 per cent from when the bins were installed. These statistics come from Keep Britain Tidy, commissioned to monitor the progress of the project and show that the amount of smoking related litter has continued to fall. Stephen Dent, vice chairman of the Middlewich Clean Team, said: “This result is much better than anticipated and heralds the way for similar projects to take place up and down the UK. The Clean Team is used to working in partnership with other organisations but the team work with CPRE, JTI, and Middlewich Pubwatch has been exceptional and has produced outstanding results.” 

Samantha Harding, Stop the Drop campaign manager at the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “This is precisely the result we hoped to see. People often respond well to new things but to see Middlewich’s residents reducing cigarette litter even further during 2014 is really inspiring. All I can say is please keep up the good work.”