About 25% of the cigarettes sold in Taiwan are improperly discarded, according to Environmental Management Administration Director-General Yen Hsu-ming, resulting in about 9 billion butts on the streets that could fall into gutters and flow into the ocean.
The government is looking to combat the environmental issue in numerous ways, including education, fining litterers, monitoring popular smoking points such as convenience stores, distributing 1,800 cigarette snuffers across the city, and launching a clean-up event named “Team Planet,” where 50,000 volunteers picked up litter from the streets.
Minister of Environment Peng Chi-ming attended the event in Taipei’s Ximending shopping area, saying that maintaining clean streets, keeping cigarette butts of the ground, and preventing dengue fever are the three goals for this year to echo Earth Day.
