Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne say adding cigarette butts to the mix reduces energy needed to fire bricks by as much as 58 per cent – and makes a better building block.

Fired-clay bricks with butt content are lighter and have better insulation properties, RMIT said. Dr Abbas Mohajerani, who led the research team, said the world’s 1.2 million tonne annual cigarette butt output could be completely recycled if 2.5 per cent of the bricks produced contained just 1 per cent butt content.
“I have been dreaming for many years about finding sustainable and practical methods for solving the problem of cigarette butt pollution,” Mohajerani said.