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Amberg / Augsburg (dpa / lby) - cigarette butts on sidewalks, in parks and in front of shops - municipalities in Bavaria approach the problem with dump waste in different ways.
Smokers can be fined for throwing cigarette butts on the floor.
The city of Augsburg, for example, increased the fine for this almost three years ago: from 20 to 40 euros, according to a spokesman.
The security service and the police issue a warning to environmental offenders.
The offense is officially called "Pollution of public roads by throwing away / leaving cigarette butts".
If the warning is not paid on time, the cases would be reported to the city's waste management and cleaning company (AWS), which sends out fines.
The AWS does not have any statistics on the violations punished.
However, the number of fines sent has increased, says the spokesman.
Since the increase in the amount of the fine, the willingness to pay the fine immediately has obviously decreased.
In 2018, 60 fines were sent out, 89 in 2019 and 125 in 2020. The dump waste has not decreased.
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In Amberg, a private initiative is campaigning against cigarette waste.
The «dump hunters» collect cigarette butts with partners such as the police or restaurants, which are not disposed of with the residual waste but for recycling.
In cooperation with the Tobacycle association in Cologne, the butts are turned into pocket ashtrays and buckets.
According to her own statement, initiator Karin Meixner-Nentwig is finding more and more supporters for her campaign that started in 2018.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210508-99-515849 / 2
Amberger Kippenjäger
Tobacycle eV