Pictured at left: Cigarette butts collected for recycling are shown in various stages of a drying process. Marquette resident Margaret Brumm delivered 6.43 pounds of the material to be shipped for recycling on Thursday. The shipment, consisting of 14,583 cigarette butts, pictured at right, was sent postage-free to TerraCycle – an Illinois company that handles materials to be recycled. The cigarette waste was collected in several cigarette-butt recycling tubes placed throughout the city. In an email, Brumm said this latest shipment will be the largest box of cigarette butts shipped since the recycling program started in 2021. She collects the recyclable material regularly and ships them off to TerraCycle. She said the year-to-date total for 2022 is 46, 583 cigarette butts. That’s equal to more than 2,100 packages of cigarettes. The Superior Watershed Partnership and the city of Marquette are also involved in the collection effort. SWP officials have said that cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a material that does not break down easily. The filters are small enough to easily make their way through the storm water system and then into Lake Superior. According to TerraCycle’s website, the cigarette waste is cleaned and separated by material type and then recycled into raw formats that manufacturers can use to make new products. The ash and tobacco are separate out and composted in a specialized process. The filters that are collected can be turned into industrial plastic items including benches, picnic tables, and playground equipment. For every pound of cigarette butts that’s collected, TerraCycle donates $1 to the Keep America Beautiful organization. (Photos courtesy of Margaret Brumm)