Cigarette butts topped the list of litter found in Australia’s waterways, bushlands, parks, and streets last year, surpassing all other forms of waste.

According to an annual survey conducted by Clean Up Australia (CUA), cigarette butts accounted for nearly a quarter of all litter collected by volunteers, overtaking soft plastics as the most commonly discarded item.

Pip Kiernan, Chair of CUA, noted that many smokers are unaware that the filters of their cigarettes are composed of plastic.

“Cigarette butts are particularly harmful because they contain cellulose acetate, a type of plastic that does not decompose,” she explained.

“These butts break down into microfibers and release toxins into the environment, often ending up in the stomachs of birds,” Kiernan added.

Over the 35 years that CUA has been compiling its litter report, cigarette butts have consistently been a significant concern, frequently ranking among the top three littered items.

A 2021 WWF Australia report found that of the nearly 18 billion cigarettes smoked each year, between 5.9 and 8.9 billion butts end up as litter.

While smoking prevalence in Australia is either declining or stable, depending on the data source, 2025 Roy Morgan research suggests both illicit tobacco and vapes have become more widespread than in the past.

Vapes are still becoming a more prominent source of waste despite a ban on the import and selling of the disposable e-cigarettes since mid-2024.

Despite the regulations, vapes are still in circulation and particularly hazardous when they land in the environment, because they contain batteries and harmful chemicals.

Litter dominated by plastics

Plastic continues to dwarf all other material types ending up as litter, making up more than 80 per cent of all counted items in the 2025 survey.

Consumption of plastic is increasing, and about 250kg of it enters the environment as litter every minute, where it can be ingested by birds and marine life with potentially fatal results.

Plastic also remains a problematic waste stream, with just 14 per cent recycled and recovered.

There was some policy progress in 2025, with a voluntary soft plastics program introduced and container deposit schemes finally in place in every state and territory.

But Kiernan said national packaging reform was “absolutely overdue” in Australia to enforce mandatory rules on brands to make them responsible for the packaging they create.

“We’ve tried the voluntary targets, they haven’t worked,” she said.

“The thing with voluntary targets is you get free riders. So some people do the right thing and pay more to do the right thing with their packaging, and others don’t.”

The federal environment department is weighing up options for packaging reform to put to the government.

“We’d love to hear some announcement from the environment minister on that,” Kiernan said.

For the latest from SBS News, download our app and subscribe to our newsletter.