Malta’s cigarette butt issue has become a hot topic of late, and many locals and expats are trying to raise awareness about butt littering. In its efforts to combat this issue, the Sliema Local Council has launched this great initiative.

“As from today, a number of outdoor ashtrays have begun to be installed in a number of areas around our locality,” they posted on Facebook. The project is being done in collaboration with Clean Malta.

Comments are rolling in, with various Sliema residents totally backing this initiative. Some have suggested spots that they are needed the most, including Graham Street and near McDonald’s and the surrounding area.

Some locals also took the opportunity to add suggest more changes that need to be made in order to keep Sliema’s environment clean. Suggestions include adding more bins in Manwel Dimech Street and more dog waste bins.

A couple of days ago, a Facebook user posted photos showing a full two-litre plastic bottle filled with hundreds of cigarette butts that she had collected from a seaside location in just half an hour, shedding light on the littering epidemic. Many people have noted that smokers simply toss them to the ground with the excuse that there aren’t bins nearby. So if we're going to argue that... we'd love to see more of these ashtrays installed around the Maltese Islands and hey, presto - no more excuses!

Save the planet – dispose of your waste properly!