Resident pitches countywide cigarette-butt recycling program, seeks payment and county support

A resident who identified herself in the transcript proposed a countywide cigarette-butt recycling program and urged the board to provide funding or support for program operations. "The name of the project... Marquette County says welcome. Please put your butts in our cans," the speaker said, describing a three-part plan: place dedicated receptacles countywide, provide a public spreadsheet of recycling options, and run publicity to increase participation.

She said she has been running a local cigarette-butt recycling effort for four years and that during winter she collected and shipped nine pounds of butts to a recycler in Illinois. She emphasized environmental harms from non-biodegrading filters and said the program could reduce toxins reaching lakes and help reduce wildfire ignitions. The speaker asked the county to consider paying for operational support and to publish centralized recycling information on the county website.

Commissioners thanked the speaker for ongoing work and asked staff to review how a county-supported pilot or information page might be integrated into existing recycling outreach. The board did not approve funding at the meeting; the resident said she would return to future meetings to follow up.