Vancouver’s Green party city councillor is hoping to see a provincial deposit and refund program launched to reduce cigarette butt litter.

Adriane Carr plans to introduce a motion at next week’s city council meeting aimed at getting the B.C. government to implement a deposit and return program for cigarette butts, similar to the beverage container recycling program.

The motion calls for the mayor to ask the Government of B.C. to implement the program, which would include a deposit fee with the purchase of cigarettes, and refunds for returned cigarette butts.

“The problem with cigarette butts is not only that they’re just so common and out there and unsightly, but they’re actually toxic,” Carr told the Straight by phone. “And a lot of people are under the misconception that cigarette butts will just biodegrade….but no, they’re full of toxins, and those toxins do get into groundwater, do get into our marine ecosystem.”

Carr noted the proposal for the provincial program is based on a West End Cleanup initiative during car-free day on June 16, which resulted in the collection of over 60,000 cigarette butts. As part of the pilot project, volunteers were paid about one cent for each cigarette butt collected, or $20 a pound.

John Merzetti of West End Cleanup said the trial run indicated the deposit and refund model would be “really successful”. The pilot project was funded by a grant from the Vancouver Foundation, through the Gordon Neighbourhood House.

“It worked better than we could have anticipated on Sunday,” he said in a phone interview.

He noted the group has been cleaning up litter in the neighbourhood since 2007.

“The cigarette butt is…the bane of our existence,” Merzetti said in a phone interview. “It’s the single largest per unit item in what we pick up. And they’re so small and people think they’re harmless, but when you add them all up, they’re quite something.”

Carr’s motion also calls for the proposed initiative to be forwarded to the Union of B.C. Municipalities for consideration at the organization’s convention in September.

“My hope is that, because this is a program that should be province-wide, that Vancouver can simply urge the province to undertake the program, but it should be done by working with Vancouver and all the municipalites in B.C.,” said Carr.

The Green councillor expects to bring the motion forward at city council’s next meeting on Tuesday, June 25.