The municipal waste management company in the Slovak capital has announced a new way to reuse discarded cigarettes.

During the city's Christmas markets, the group tested special containers designed to collect both standard cigarette filters and those found in modern heated tobacco devices.

The city intends to use the discarded material to create asphalt for roads. Authorities hope this will contribute to cleaner streets and practical waste reuse.

The waste management company in Bratislava, Odvoz a Likvidácia Odpadu (OLO), stated that starting in 2024, it will place specially designed containers for discarded cigarettes at public events.

Although this, in itself, is not innovative, their use for cigarette butts is a world premiere.

"If people at a festival, race, market or other urban event throw cigarette butts into a special container, they will contribute not only to a cleaner environment, but also to the material recovery of this type of waste", said Martina Čechová, Circular Economy Manager at OLO, in a press release.

Used cigarette filters will be transformed into special fibers that can then become a mixture for preparing asphalt used on road surfaces.

While Bratislava hopes to increase cigarette recycling in 2024 with this new program, it will not be the first time that filters are used to make roads.

In Slovakia, there is already a road made by EcoButt using discarded cigarettes. It is located in Žiar nad Hronom, in a central region of the country, and it appears to be the world's first of its kind.

Discarded cigarettes on the ground are problematic for the environment as they release toxic substances that can contaminate water, soil and ecosystems.

It is estimated that only one-third of the 18 billion cigarettes smoked daily worldwide end up in a trash or recycling bin.