Cigarette Waste-Made Sunglasses

The challenge is enormous

Cigarette waste is a huge problem for urban environments—not only in terms of cleanliness but also in terms of sustainability. Nobutts.ie seeks to solve this problem by upcycling cigarette waste and repurposing it as usable plastic objects such as sunglasses and other consumer products. The brand is planning to release a range of chic, eco-friendly sunglasses for the upcoming summer season.

Nobutts.ie is “the brainchild of a group of undergraduate students at UCD.” The start-up works to “remove the paper from the cigarette filters, clean the plastic, and then render it into a new form that can be used by industry to make ‘any solid plastic shape.’” Currently, Nobutts.ie has teamed up with a number of hotels, bars, and hospitals, curbing and collecting their partners’ cigarette waste. The company will also advocate for special cigarette butt containers for “problem spots” around Ireland.

Image Credit: Tom Honan/The Irish Times