Lucas Zito

Department: Public Private

Filter Loop

What: An interconnected system to recycle cigarette butts and raise awareness about our litter and pollution problem. 


Why: Every minute, 2.3 million cigarette butts are discarded around the world. That amounts to thousands of tonnes per day.

How: Lucas Zito has created several systems to clean up our act. He proposes making the butts refundable, so you get money back for each one that you hand in. As a public intervention, he has also made a machine that calculates the amount of acetate in the filters that you collect. Bank enough acetate in the machine, and you can get new objects 3D printed with the recycled material.

“By getting people to participate, you raise awareness”