Cigarette butt (CB) is a crucial litter in urban communities because it may contain various toxicants. Due to serious limitations on incinerating or landfilling CB, recycling of this hazardous waste is essential. The objective of this study was to investigate the most important challenges in CB collection and recycling. To this end, a search was done on Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science by defining a search protocol and identifying appropriate keywords. At the end of the screening process, 52 appropriate papers were selected. In this review, all methods for the CB recycling were considered. This review showed that nine categorizations of different products have been produced from the recycling of CBs, but three important challenges were identified for the recycling of this hazardous waste. It should be noted that finding solutions to these challenges may be helpful in better management of CB as a toxic litter.
Keywords: CB contaminants; CB littering; Waste management.