The research team from the University of Granada and the University of Bologna has developed a method to recycle the unburned portion of cigarette butts as a technical additive in asphalt production. After discarding the ash and combustion residues, the remaining filters—composed primarily of cellulose fibers and PLA plastics—are cleaned, mixed with Fischer-Tropsch wax, and subjected to pressing, controlled heating, and cold cutting to form pellets. When these pellets are integrated into hot bitumen mixtures at rates up to 40 percent by weight alongside recycled pavement material, the wax binder melts and releases reinforcing fibers that enhance the pavement’s structural resistance and elasticity.

Laboratory evaluations at the Building Engineering Laboratory (LabIC.UGR) demonstrated that asphalt containing cigarette-butt pellets exhibits higher crack resistance under both traffic loading and thermal variation, as well as reduced bitumen viscosity that allows lower production temperatures and corresponding energy savings. These findings suggest a scalable approach to diverting millions of toxic cigarette butts from urban litter into road construction, advancing circular-economy principles and offering potential for pilot implementation in European urban street rehabilitation projects.

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