Did you ever hear that cigarettes can turn into a soft toys?
I think no, because a cigarette contains harmful elements, it is not good in any sense. But a Noida-based Startup turns cigarette butts into soft toys, cushions covers, mosquitos repellents, organic manures, etc.
The startup Code Effort Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 2018 by Noida resident Brothers Naman Gupta and Vipul Gupta. If we have the ability and skills, we can make the best from waste.
More than 24 crores of cigarette butts are thrown away per day. And cigarette butt is made of cellulose acetate, a plastic filter that is not biodegradable.
Journey
When Naman was in college, he saw that students threw cigarette butts anywhere. He was very disappointed with the habit of everyone, and he decided he would do something with these cigarette residues.
He researched this project and reached out how many ways we can make this waste valuable. Then he started to give people the awareness to collect these cigarette butts in a valuable bin (VBins), so they can collect cigarette butts easily and prevent the environment.
He distributed these bins to every cigarette seller to keep them outside of their shops so smokers can be thrown these cigarettes only to bins, not anywhere. Naman’s team collects butts at the end of the week from the bins and keeps them in the respected place.
Naman Gupta and Vipul Gupta, started their startup journey by recycling cigarette waste into different products.
How to prepare?
In 2018, Naman and Vipul came up with the idea that they will work something on the cigarettes butts that smokers throw anywhere because it is not even injurious to an individual’s health but also gives dangerous impacts to the environment.
So, they started to research this project and decided to recycle the residues of cigarettes. They kept VBins outside of every cigarettes shop and public place.
They make organic manure out of the cigarette’s left-over paper and tobacco. Make mosquito repellents with the cigarette’s left-over paper and fibre. Prepare soft toys, cushions, key chains, and other items out of cigarette fibre.
In the future, the company is planning to make air purifiers with cigarette polymer on a large scale for pollution that arises from industries’ chimneys and will make fly ash trick with cigarettes ash.
Business Model
They remove cigarette papers and make pulp with an organic binder to make mosquito repellent cards. In addition, the fibre material from cigarettes butt is treated with biodegradable organic chemicals.
This material is treated with chemicals for 24 to 36 hours. Then it is removed and washed with water, and then dried to make soft toys, pillows, cushions, teddy, key chains, etc.
Mr. Naman has made three models of cigarette waste collection first is Saving the environment, Empowerment Women, Promoting Vocational Skills. Due to which he gets 25000 kg of cigarette waste every month from 12 states.
In his first model, rag pickers and unemployed volunteers are used to collect cigarette butts.
In the second model, this company has set up smoking rooms in large corporate offices in Noida, Delhi, and Gurgoan. At T- shops, and cigarettes in these cities, have provided Value Bin (V-Bin).
According to the third model, vendors present in different states of the country collect cigarette butts. By these three models, on average, 2500 kg of cigarette waste comes every month.
Cigarette butt recycling initiatives are growing rapidly in Canada, the US, Spain, and Europe.
The vendors will pay according to the quality of cigarette waste at the rate of ₹500 to ₹800 per kg. The company employs about 40 women.
Here the remaining butts of cigarettes are used to make plastic items. The remaining part of the butt, which presents a filter made up of cellulose acetate, is melted, and that melted part will make plastic.
Conclusion
The Business idea of cigarette butts is awesome and increasing day by day. Sometimes small ideas make you big. Even with waste, you can do magical things if you have skills. And we can save our nature god from being destroyed.
Read More: Kagzi – The Indian Startup making 100% Biodegradable Paper Bottles
