No matter how much we clean, piles keep growing... The battle against cigarette butts across the city center

Tobacco Butt Graves Formed Throughout Downtown Seoul
Average Annual Unauthorized Disposal Enforcement Cases Reach 76,393

Around 9 a.m. on the 7th near Jonggak Station in Jongno-gu, Seoul. After the long holiday ended and citizens had left, the streets were quiet, but cigarette butts and trash were scattered throughout the alleys. Not only fully burnt cigarette butts but also cigarette packs and trash were tangled together, emitting a foul odor. In front of the cigarette butt collection bins installed by the district office to prevent illegal disposal of cigarette butts, a "cigarette butt graveyard" was piled up high.

Moreover, cigarette butts were scattered around the storm drains installed in various places, precariously resting on the metal grates. Storm drains already filled with cigarette butts and various trash were also noticeable. The unsightly scene often caused passersby to frown. Meanwhile, some people, seemingly indifferent, naturally lit cigarettes as if the places piled with cigarette butts were smoking booths.

Around 9 a.m. on the 7th, cigarette butts and trash were scattered in an alleyway in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Shim Seong-a]

Although the smoking rate among the population aged 19 and older has been declining for five consecutive years, the city center is still struggling with the war against cigarettes. Various campaigns are being conducted by local governments and others, but there are calls for more practical improvement measures.

According to Seoul City, the number of cigarette butt littering violations is on average 76,393 cases per year, with more than 70,000 cases detected annually. Since the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Waste Management Act (Article 38-4) in 2020, a fine of 50,000 KRW can be imposed on those who discard cigarette butts or tissues, but the number of cigarette butt littering violations has not decreased.

There are difficulties in enforcement as many people run away or refuse identification during cigarette butt littering crackdowns. Kim Dong-yeop, head of the Illegal Disposal Crackdown Team in the Cleaning Administration Division of Jongno District Office, said, "Some of the frequently caught individuals even share ways to evade enforcement on the internet," adding, "It is often difficult and troublesome to catch someone who runs away during enforcement."

Local governments and private organizations conduct campaigns such as plogging to pick up cigarette butts and trash to prevent such damage, but these efforts are insufficient. Some district offices in Seoul are also working hard through cigarette butt collection reward programs, plogging, awareness campaigns for smokers, and operating illegal disposal crackdown teams, but have not seen significant effects. Seoul City also planned to distribute portable cigar wraps and implement cigarette butt collection reward programs last year, but these were canceled due to budget cuts.

Cigarette butts discarded inside storm drains are also a problem. According to the 2020 Ministry of Environment’s "Research on Establishing a Cigarette Butt Management System" report, the daily average number of cigarette butts found in storm drains in Seoul’s commercial and entertainment facilities ranges from 422 to 536, while residential areas see an average of 34 to 85. The cost of removing these discarded cigarette butts is also considerable. In Jongno-gu, which has about 16,000 storm drains, 1.4 billion KRW was spent cleaning storm drains last year, and about 646 million KRW has been budgeted through June this year. A Jongno District Office official lamented, "The cleaning vehicles and manpower are limited compared to the vast amount."

An environmental cleaner met in Jongno-gu said, "The cleaning area is so wide that it takes about two hours to finish cleaning," adding, "When I return to the same spot two hours later, cigarette butts have piled up again." In fact, a place that was cleaned thoroughly around 11 a.m. was found littered with cigarette butts again two hours later.

Experts advise approaching the issue from a long-term perspective. Lee Kyung-seok, Secretary-General of Environmental Justice, emphasized, "This is not a problem that can be solved by cleaning morning and evening, so we should not look at 'illegal cigarette butt disposal' alone," adding, "It is necessary to properly install smoking areas and cigarette butt collection bins, and in the long term, the country should move toward reducing the smoking rate."