Community Environmental Initiatives
Put Waste in the Right Place
What goes where?
Find out where and how to properly dispose of an item.
What is the Day of Action on Litter?
An annual event to bring attention to the impact waste and litter has on our environment and what we can do to stop it.
The Provincial Day of Action on Litter is celebrated on the second Tuesday of May each year in Ontario.
The next Provincial Day of Action on Litter is May 9, 2023.
If you live and work in Hamilton, putting waste in the right place is the same when you're out and about as it is when you're at home.
Help keep valuable recyclables out of our one and only landfill. Water bottles, pop cans and juice cartons are a few of the containers that can be recycled.
Make sure candy wrappers, coffee cups & lids, cigarette waste and fast food containers, like Styrofoam and black plastic, go in the garbage and don’t end up as litter in our beautiful parks, trails and roadways.
Put waste in the right place!
Cigarettes are the most littered item globally
An estimated 65% of all cigarettes are tossed on the ground instead of placed in an ashtray or waste receptacle. In Canada, over 8,000 tonnes of cigarette butts are littered each year. Cleanup volunteers collected 560,432 cigarette butts from Canadian shorelines in 2018 to help protect our waterways.
Cigarette filters contain a type of plastic called cellulose acetate, which can take up to 12 years to break down but will not decompose naturally. Cigarettes contain toxic chemicals which can leach into the environment, contaminate water and poison wildlife.
Cigarette litter prevention tips
- Never flick cigarette butts on the ground or out of your vehicle window while driving.
- Look for ashtrays on the top of the City of Hamilton’s garbage receptacles on sidewalks and other outdoor areas.
- Carry a pocket ashtray to safely extinguish and store cigarette butts if there are no ashtrays nearby.
- Cigarette butts can be recycled! Consider if TerraCycle’s Cigarette Waste Recycling program is right for you.
Use a pocket ashtray to reduce litter
Pocket ashtrays are handy tools to help avoid flicking a cigarette butt on the ground. To use a pocket ashtray, simply slide open the pocket ashtray, put your extinguished cigarette inside, then close the pocket ashtray tightly. Empty the pocket ashtray into the garbage when it is full.
Pick up a free pocket ashtray at any of these locations:
- Tourism Hamilton Visitor Centre - for info and hours: www.tourismhamilton.com/visitor-information
- All Hamilton Public Library branch locations. Find locations and hours.
- Municipal Service Centres (City Hall, Ancaster, Dundas, Glanbrook, Stoney Creek, Flamborough)
Sidewalk Ashtrays
Ashtrays are available in public space where smoking is permitted. Look for pole mounted ashtrays on Barton St E (within Barton Village BIA area) at these locations:
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- Barton Street East at Earl Street (north west corner near the bus stop)
- Barton Street East at Wentworth Street North (north east corner)
- Barton Street East at Cheever Street (north east corner)
- Barton Street East at Emerald Street North (north east corner)
- Barton Street East between Victoria Avenue North and Wellington Avenue North
The City of Hamilton also provides ashtrays on top of many sidewalk waste receptacles. The waste receptacles are placed throughout the city in busy areas. Look for the pink sticker on top of the receptacle to find the ashtray.
Community Responsibilities
- Only smoke in areas where smoking is permitted under the Smoke Free Ontario Act and the City of Hamilton’s bylaws regulating smoking in public places and workplaces and smoking in City parks and recreation areas.
- Always place cigarette butts in an ashtray or garbage receptacle once they are extinguished.
- Business owners may provide ashtrays outside their building and remind customers and employees to use the ashtray.
- Clean the sidewalk in front of your business or home regularly to prevent cigarette butts from piling up.
City Responsibilities
- Provide ashtrays and garbage receptacles in public areas where smoking is permitted.
- Clean and maintain City-owned ashtrays and garbage receptacles on a regular basis.
- Provide resources and training for volunteer groups who want to help clean up cigarette butts and other litter items in parks, roads etc. such as the Team Up to Clean Up program.
- Increase awareness and engage residents and businesses through public education and outreach programs.
- Investigate complaints related to smoking in City parks, recreation areas and other areas where smoking is prohibited under the Smoke Free Ontario Act. Learn more about smoke and vape free areas.
- Hamilton Public Health Services offers programs to help people quit smoking. To learn about the different programs that are available, please visit www.hamilton.ca/tobacco.
Date modified
January 17, 2023