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A bill before the Maine State legislator, LD 258, proposes placing a five-cent redemption on cigarette butts. The intent of the bill is to cut down on the number of discarded cigarette butts by providing an incentive to return them for disposal. The proposal, modeled after the Maine bottle redemption law, would add $1 to the cost of a pack of cigarettes.
This proposal is as unrealistic as it is repulsive. No one wants to handle someone else’s cigarette butts. Redemption centers shouldn’t be asked to sort and count piles of cigarette butts. Placing a five-cent deposit on cigarette butts will encourage children to collect them for money. Who is going to pay for all the butts returned that weren’t subject to the redemption when the cigarettes were sold?
Cigarette butts need to be disposed of by the smokers who make them. Creating a redemption process just adds a lot of unnecessary steps and middlemen to an otherwise simple process. Throw your cigarette butts away.
Rather than providing incentives for the return of cigarette butts, legislators should focus on discouraging people from discarding them. As of this year, discarding a cigarette butt on the ground is legally defined as littering. The fine for littering is $500 and repeat offenders can lose their driver’s license. If the State of Maine wants to encourage people to stop throwing cigarette butts on the ground, the state needs to enforce its littering laws.
Bangor Daily News