RMIT researchers turn cigarette butts into bricks, reducing firing energy use by 10%

Cigarette butts are one of the world’s most common forms of litter, but the researchers have found a way to reuse this waste by incorporating it into bricks. Their research explores how discarded cigarette filters could be collected, processed, and added to lightweight fired-clay bricks on an industrial scale. Earlier RMIT research found that bricks containing 1% recycled cigarette butts could match the strength of conventional bricks while using less energy during production. The researchers also examined the health and safety concerns involved in handling cigarette waste, including harmful bacteria and heavy metals. The approach could therefore help reduce cigarette butt litter while also lowering the energy required to produce bricks.How cigarette waste could be used to make lightweight bricksRMIT researchers developed a plan to recycle cigarette butts into bricks on a larger scale. The approach builds on earlier work showing that fired-clay bricks containing 1% recycled cigarette butts can be as strong as conventional bricks. The latest plan outlines how the brickmaking and waste management industries could work together to collect discarded filters and use them in brick produc...