A single cigarette is causing harm to the person behind it and also harming the environment as cigarette butt is the most littered item in the world.
Well, in a bid to get rid of it Vishal Kant and Naman Gupta, two young residents of Gurgaon launched the startup ‘Code’, which recycles all kinds of cigarette waste and even pay for it.
According to a report, the duo got this idea from a party that they attended, where they found plenty of cigarette butts lying around. Shocked to see such a degree of wastage, it was like a break point for them, since they were already thinking of starting something up together. Speaking to Hindustan Times, the duo said, ‘It was a typical bachelors’ house where we would party. Because so many people came there to hang around, cigarette stubs were found almost everywhere. It struck us that if we could recycle it and make something out of it, it would save a lot of waste.”
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With that, in July 2016, they launched Code, a one-stop solution for all sorts of recycling purposes. The startup recycles every single component of the remaining cigarette, and what’s interesting is that they even pay people for handing over cigarette waste to them. The startup pays Rs 700 for every kilogram and Rs 80 for every 100 grams. Cigarette consumers and also vendors can get paid by selling their cigarette waste.
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The treated filter is 99.9% safe for use as they treat it with chemicals and ensure the byproducts are checked and approved by the labs from the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), after which stuffing material is made from the recycled waste. The startup has collected over 10 kilograms of cigarette waste like ash, tobacco, filter and paper in the last three months, and they are aiming to amplify their reach all across India.
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Based out of Noida, Code has over 70 customers, out of which 50 are vendors. They came up with the idea of VBins, a serviced package for the dumping of cigarette waste. A garbage collector from Code collects it once every 15 days. Vishal is 25 and is an engineer by profession, while Naman is a graduate from Delhi University.