Cigarette butt recycling scheme aims to stub out waste in Catalonia

Move could provide income for homeless and clean up Barcelona's streets and beaches, says government

In a move that could provide some income for homeless people and clean up the streets, the Catalan government is looking at paying 4 to anyone who hands in a pack's-worth of cigarette ends at a recycling point.

The cost of the proposal would be covered by a 20-cent levy on each cigarette, its proponents say, which would nearly double the price of a pack of Marlboro Red from about 5 (4.25), compared with about 13 in the UK.