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The city of Manteca, CA鈥檚 cigarette collection program has not only been great for cleaning up the cigarette butts around the city, but it has also had a huge impact on the environment by protecting their waterways and food sources.

In the city of Manteca, CA, Lissett Mayorga the Water Resources Coordinator, has taken charge of the cigarette waste that ends up on the streets, affecting gutters and waterways. She started with the city in 2022 and was new to the stormwater world. It was at that point that her Manager, Heather Grove, wanted her to get all the necessary onboard training. This included attending the biggest event in the nearby area, the Tri-State Conference. In 2023, on the first day, Mayorga attended a 7:30 am session that was held by Ken Beckstead from Cigarette Pollution Solutions, on Cigarette Waste and the Waters of America. 鈥淚 heard about solutions to handling cigarette waste from Ken鈥檚 class and it really had a huge impact me,鈥� says Mayorga. 鈥淗e talked about the fact that cigarette waste is the number one litter item in the state and the country. He also presented the receptacles he has implemented at beaches and at other cities, like at Las Vegas. So, that really prompted me to look into doing something about it in the City of Manteca.鈥�

Beckstead has been teaching the course 鈥淐igarette Waste and the Waters of America鈥� at the Tri-State Conference for about 10 years, emphasizing how the waters of America are being impacted by the number one littered item on the planet鈥攃igarette waste鈥攁nd nobody is really taking it seriously. After we implemented receptacles at Allegiant Stadium and the convention center in Las Vegas, NV, I wanted to hit larger places with heavy traffic areas and part of that strategy is to teach this session.鈥� The main point Beckstead hopes every attendant remembers is, 鈥淭he duty of a stormwater professional is to protect the waters of America to the maximum extent practicable with the best available technology. Currently, the session focuses on forming a program like this and proper implementation with a commonsense approach.鈥�

Getting Started
Mayorga explains that the city performs a visual trash assessment twice annually as part of permit requirements. In the process, they evaluate ways that they can improve litter on the streets, including cigarette butts. 鈥淚 loved the idea of implementing these types of receptacles around the city, so I brought the idea to my manager, and she loved it. However, since we have a limited stormwater budget, we decided to begin by getting a few cigarette receptacles to start.鈥� So, they looked at where the city of Manteca could benefit from the Butts Only Box庐 Cigarette Pollution Solutions, including outside apartment complexes and many of the other high traffic areas.

Then, Mayorga contacted different businesses in multiple areas that could be interested in collecting cigarette waste in high traffic areas. They also developed a brochure providing information that they were working with Cigarette Pollution Solutions, collecting cigarette waste and that it would ultimately be recycled. 鈥淚 went with one of my interns to different businesses around the city, such as hotels, bars, smoke shops, restaurants, and I explained our program and said if you are interested, please sign up because it鈥檚 a first come, first serve basis. We found the response to be very positive; people were excited because many of those businesses have a lot of problems with cigarette waste around the property. I even got feedback that we should put one at the hospital. That鈥檚 how we started with our implementation,鈥� she states.

Beckstead emphasizes, 鈥淧art of what I teach in the course is determining transition points鈥攇oing into a restaurant, getting off a train, getting on a bus. These are the important spots with high traffic areas. What we have found is that people will not walk past 30 feet to do the right thing no matter what it is, so placement is crucial. I went over the basics with Lissett and she determined rather quickly where the best spots were. Then, we did a pilot program to see how everybody accepted it; and it was a great success.鈥�

The first Butts Only Box庐 was implemented at the city鈥檚 golf course at the end of 2023, and then one went in at the transit center along with a couple of hotels at the beginning of 2024. As a result of its success, the program was expanded. 鈥淣ow, the city has cigarette collection receptacles at three hotels, at the transit center by the walkway where people get to the bus station, and three on the city鈥檚 golf course, especially at the restaurant at the green. We noticed that the employees there who smoke cigarettes were really excited when they found out about this program and that a cigarette receptacle was going to be implemented there,鈥� says Mayorga.

Lissett is also in the process of putting a roadside model at City Hall, so that people can bring their cigarette waste from home and empty it in the receptacle. Currently, there are 11 collection points in the city and there are others pending installation. In addition, two facilities鈥擟rothall Laundry Services and Sunnyvalley Smoked Meats鈥攈ave joined the cigarette litter prevention program. They have their own outdoor ashtray, so they were incorporated into the city鈥檚 program through servicing the outdoor ashtrays and collecting the cigarette waste. The city also put a sign at that spot, so people know to dump their butts there and they will be recycled.

Cigarette Pollution Solutions offers different types of models to serve all kinds of situations. 鈥淥ur golf cart model is a convenient device because everybody smokes on the golf course, but there鈥檚 nowhere to put the waste. We want to make it very easy for them to dispose of their cigarette butts by implementing a cigarette or cigar holder on the cart as well as a receptacle,鈥� explains Beckstead. 鈥淲hile you鈥檙e golfing, you can drive around with it and nothing bounces out. It is held in place with a very strong magnet attached to the golf cart.鈥� There are also trail, street, business, beach, and roadside models. 鈥淭he beauty of the program is that these closed and lockable receptacles not only keep the cigarette litter secure from rain and irrigation cycles, but they also prevent spreading of disease among the disadvantaged and underage smokers,鈥� Beckstead says.

Pickup and Disposal
Since the cigarette receptacles have been put into place, Mayorga says they have seen quite a reduction in the cigarette waste around the area, sidewalks, streets, and parking lots. 鈥淲e are now planning to install the receptables at additional businesses and more of the smaller, mobile ones. For those models, they will go on an existing pole, which make them very easy to install. It comes with two brackets to make installation easy.

The Butts Only Boxes庐 are serviced once to twice a week. While the city鈥檚 intern is performing the task currently, with the growth of the program, more help will eventually be needed. Mayorga explains that Cigarette Pollution Solutions supplies the covered five-gallon bucket with an O-ring (to prevent smells) and the intern goes out in PPE and collects the waste. After the waste is collected, it is dumped into a 55-gallon drum labeled for cigarette waste only. Once that is filled up, Cigarette Pollution Solutions comes to pick up the waste where it will be taken to get recycled. 鈥淎t that point, we take the butts to VLS Environmental Services where they process the waste for reuse in concrete applications. They give me a statement, so I can go back to our customers and show how it鈥檚 been diverted from the landfill, closing the loop,鈥� explains Beckstead. 鈥淲e know there are 2,667 cigarette butts per pound. If I pick up 100 pounds of cigarette butts, I know how many cigarette butts were collected times 16,000 fibers per butt, and how many fibers have been kept out of the environment. I can do my nicotine, arsenic, heavy metals, calculations as well. That鈥檚 how we quantify our cigarette litter loads. Cigarette waste is considered a high yield material producing the same energy pound for pound as lignite coal. Every pound of cigarette waste we throw away is like mining a pound of coal and throwing it in the garbage鈥攖hat is the awareness we鈥檙e trying to raise right now. In one year, we threw 176,000,000 lbs. of energy in the garbage that could have powered 8,900 homes, 24 hours percent day for a whole year. It鈥檚 one cigarette butt at a time, but no one notices until you get a pile of them like I do.鈥�

Spreading the Word
While the city is still growing the program, Mayorga wants to continue to spread the word about the receptacles available. 鈥淲e want people to know they shouldn鈥檛 throw their cigarette litter on the streets. We have a way to collect it and make a better use of out of it, while at the same time helping to prevent fires and protect our local waterways. We鈥檝e found that when people hear about this program, they really get excited, especially the ones that want zero waste around their businesses and property. When people hear we have future plans to collect cigarette waste in a huge receptacle, we also get a positive response.鈥�

Mayorga has also made it a point to promote the program at their annual watermelon fair and other outreach events. 鈥淲e give out portable ashtrays and little cigarette disposal bags. I explain that new cars no longer have ashtrays, leading to roadside littering. Many of them would tell us about a family member who throws their cigarette butts on the streets. They definitely feel like this is something really positive for our city. We also distribute flyers that talk about the collection program with visuals. In our outreach strategies, we talk about the Cigarette Litter Prevention Program, but we also talk about water conservation, protecting our stormwater, and our FOG (fats, oils and grease) program. We try to give people as much information as we can about these programs in a short amount of time we have with them.鈥�

Ken presented at the San Joaquin Valley Stormwater Quality Partnership (SJVSWQP) last year in 2024. SJVSWQP鈥檚 mission is to 鈥渞educe storm water pollution in our local streams, rivers, and to promote clean stormwater runoff and improve water quality through a collaborative approach.鈥� Several cities in the valley and Northern California are in this partnership including the city of Manteca. San Joaquin Valley is a major food-producer and its responsible for a significant portion of the U.S. agricultural output. Removing cigarette litter reduces the microplastics that contaminate our food sources. This is why this is a critical issue.

Mayorga says, 鈥淭he cigarette collection program has been great for our city as well as made a huge impact on our environment by limiting the cigarette waste on our streets and protecting our waters and food sources. We have found a solution to a problem that we have dealt with for many years, and we hope that it will become a habit for people when they need to dispose of their cigarette butts. I feel like this is something that people want to know about. We are not trying to stop people from smoking cigarettes, but we are trying to have an option for them to do the right thing by diverting cigarette litter from our landfills and not littering our streets.鈥� The program also helps the city comply with their stormwater NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System). She said that they presented a talk about the program and their experience at the CWEA鈥檚 (California Water Environment Association) 52nd Annual Pretreatment Pollution Prevention and Stormwater Conference that was held in San Jose, CA on February 3rd to the 5th, and we received an enormous amount of positive feedback. 鈥淎 lot of cities came up to us after our talk to ask about the program. As a result, four cities have reached out to Ken about wanting to be involved. They have even suggested bringing the program to other cities and states.鈥�

Beckstead proudly says that the City of Manteca has taken this program beyond his expectations. 鈥淭he city is showing others how to implement this on a very large scale. I am looking forward to talking about this partnership at future industry sessions and go over what we鈥檝e done with the program and inspire everybody else in the room. I鈥檓 very excited about what they鈥檙e doing and they鈥檙e just getting started! | WA鈥�
For more information about the City of Manteca, contact Lissett Mayorga at (209) 456-8492 or [email protected].

For more information about Cigarette Pollution Solutions, contact Ken Beckstead at (760) 845-5285 or visit .

Ken Beckstead鈥檚 will hold a session on 鈥淢icro Plastics and the Waters of America鈥�, at the 40th annual Tri-state Seminar Conference on August 5th at 7:30am with the city of Manteca, CA. The Tristate Seminar Conference is where water professionals and educators go to update their education, get CEU鈥檚 and get the lates information on the water industry. For more information, visit.

Ken Beckstead will hold a session on 鈥淢icro Plastics in our water鈥�, at the annual SJVSWQP MS4 Phase I & II Regional training on May 15th at 8:00am at Manteca Transit Center, CA 95336. To sign up, visit .