Originally Posted by
mike
Cotton cigarette filters. That's rich. Guess again.
I always thought filters were made from fibreglass but apparently I've always been wrong. As an earlier poster said, they're cellulose acetate that can take a while to break down:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette#Cigarette_litter
Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate and are biodegradable[38][39], however depending on environmental conditions they can be resistant to degradation. Accordingly, the duration of the degradation process is cited as taking as little as 1 month to 3 years[38] to as long as 10–15 years.[39]
This variance in rate and resistance to biodegradation in many conditions is a factor in littering[40] and environmental damage.[41] It is estimated that 4.5 trillion cigarette butts become litter every year.[39] In the 2006 International Coastal Cleanup, cigarettes and cigarette butts constituted 24.7% of the total collected pieces of garbage, over twice as many as any other category.[42]
Cigarette butts contain the chemicals filtered from cigarettes and can leach into waterways and water supplies.[43]