“During my college years, my friends used to smoke, and I noticed that they put their cigarettes in public places, in random ashtrays or in the trash. I then tried to learn about cigarette waste and its impact on the environment ,” said Gupta. Delhi University alumnus said.
The 28-year-old said cigarette butts take about 12 years to decompose because the filter is made of 95% plastic (cellulose acetate). “It was a turning point for me. I was horrified that no one ever talked about this world’s biggest man-made contaminant.”
Gupta then approached his elder brother, Vipul Gupta, an engineer, to find an eco-friendly solution to dispose of the cigarette crumbs.
On September 25, 2018, the two brothers started a private company called Code Effort to raise cigarette butts. “My brother, who has a science background, helped with the infrastructure, machinery, chemicals”.
The Gupta brothers began developing an end-to-end solution to convert every component of a cigarette (fiber (cellulose acetate), paper as well as leftover tobacco) into sustainable products (such as home decor). Can upcycle. items, soft toys, accessories, artifacts, buttons, sculptures, mosquito repellents, compost powder, etc.).
collection of cigarette butts
According to Gupta, there are about 250 million adult smokers in India, who generally consume 2-3 cigarettes every day. About 100 billion (10,000 crore) cigarettes are consumed in India every year, generating 26,454 tonnes of waste.
Initially, the company engaged with rag pickers and collected 10 grams of cigarette butts per day. However, as of June 2022, Kod Prayas is working with over 2,000 rag pickers in over 250 districts who collect up to 1,000 kg of cigarette waste daily.
Gupta claimed that Code Effort is processing 30 tonnes of cigarette butts every month till June 2022. By the end of this year, the company plans to process 45 tonnes of cigarette butts monthly.
Additionally, the company allows people to join the initiative as individuals, and environmental organizations can voluntarily collect cigarette waste and deliver it to the company in Noida. “We pay the minimum 500 to max 800 per kg for cigarette waste to outside suppliers,” said Gupta.
challenges
One of the biggest challenges for Code Effort was gathering the company’s critical raw materials. Since cigarette butts are flammable, Gupta said if public places have separate dustbins for smokers, it becomes easier to segregate waste for code effort.
“This was a turning point for us. We felt that cigarette butts should be disposed of properly”. Gupta suggested setting up of separate dustbins for every 50-100 meters distance where people can dispose of their cigarette butts.
Code Effort tried to solve their biggest challenge of purchasing cigarette butts by creating VBean, where V stands for VALUE.
“Since there were no disposable options available to smokers, we created a brand called Vibin – a cigarette receptacle bin. V-bins helped with separation at the source,” Gupta said.
Code Effort, which is primarily operational in Delhi Gurugram and Noida, installed VBin in market areas, corporate companies, smoking areas and restaurants in these three cities. However, one can buy V-cans directly from the company.
Upcycling of Cigarette Butts
According to Gupta, a cigarette butt consists of three components- fiber, paper and tobacco. He said his waste management and segregation company turns all three components into sustainable products.
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From tobacco, which is a natural pesticide, Cod Effort makes compost powder and donates it to nearby gardens and nurseries.
The second ingredient is paper which they convert into pulp and later form into sheets. Code Effort also makes mosquito repellent out of paper.
The third ingredient is fiber, scientifically called cellulose acetate, which is first treated using their proprietary process. After the fiber is recycled, it undergoes quality approval and laboratory testing. And after receiving quality certification and laboratory testing, the same fiber is used to fill cushions, pillows, mattresses, soft toys, keychains, artworks, and more.
making soft toys out of cigarette butts
Born and brought up in Noida, the Gupta brothers opened a recycling facility in Sector 134, Nangli village. Naman Gupta narrated how the village community and the zamindar helped him set up a factory on a plot of land. Naman and Vipul approached the women of the village to make products for them. Naman said that he provided them all the equipment involved in training and making products like soft toys, cushions, pillows and artefacts. “We gave them a sewing machine, needle, thread, fiber and other relevant equipment and asked them to make the final product. Once the product is ready, we pick the products from their homes and pay,” he said.
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Gupta said that currently more than 100 women are helping make sustainable products out of cigarette fiber for the CODE effort. Since 2018, the code effort has invested approx. 75 lakhs in total, which includes all running expenses, operating expenses and working capital.
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record
Nama Gupta said that Code Effort recycled around 300 million cigarette butts in the financial year 2020-21. As of March 2022, the company has recycled approximately 1.2 billion cigarettes. The name of the company has been entered in Limca’s Book of Records for FY 2020. India Book of Records, World Book of Records and International Book of Records.
sight
As Naman Gupta told Livemint, Code Effort (CODE stands for “To Protect Our Degrading Environment”) is set to raise 400-500 tonnes of cigarette waste by 2025.
Additionally, the Gupta brothers are planning to start a new venture – DECOR EARTH PVT LTD which will primarily focus on end products. While the code effort will focus on cigarette waste management and recycling. “Decor Earth will be a sustainable brand made of recycled cigarette butts that will go live next month,” Gupta said.
Gupta said that currently Code Effort is also in discussions with two venture capitalists and may raise seed funding this financial year.