For a citizen of Rio de Janeiro see trash on the street's floor is more than routine. Much of this waste ends up entering the water galleries and finding their way to the ocean, affecting the entire marine ecosystem. Thus, contributing to the so-called ' diffuse pollution ' - the trash on the surface that is charged by rain waterways.

In 2013, the state company of urban waste and the municipal guard launched a plan to solve this situation: The Zero Trash (Lixo Zero). The plan stipulated the collection of fines for any person who inflicted the urban sanitation law, including littering the ground. The fine amounts can range from $50 to  $ 1000 dollars, depending on the offense. The plan has been a success. According to COMLURB(Companhia Municipal de Limpeza Urbana), so far the program has reduced by 63% improper waste disposal, but now a more subtle problem has been observed: the cigarette butts.

The inadequate disposal of cigarette butts causes damage to the environment like the contamination of the soil and the water. According to a study conducted by professors of the University of Sao Paulo, in 2010, two cigarette butts thrown in the environment pollute as much as 1 liter of domestic sewage. The filter, which makes up the butt, resists biodegradation remaining in the soil for 5 to 7 years without decomposing.

Therefore, they can be recycled by being used, for example, in the process of hydro sowing and in the making of craft paper. Recently, The Governator of Rio de Janeiro enacted a law providing the creation of a recycling program for cigarette butts.  The plan is to obligate the Cigarette industry to take responsibility for the waste, so the government would not have any raise on its budget.