From stubs to soft toys, Indian factory upcycles cigarette ends - in pictures

With nearly 267 million smokers in India, cigarette butts are frequently seen mixed in with rubbish on the streets of New Delhi

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  For businessman Naman Gupta, rubbish is his treasure and he has created a business upcycling the waste to create stuffing for plush toys, among other things. All photos: Reuters

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  Mr Gupta's company, Code Effort, collects more than a thousand kilograms of cigarette stubs from the streets each day.

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  'Whatever materials that we collect, we process and recycle all the cigarette waste here at our factory,' Mr Gupta said.

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  From the paper, his company makes recycled paper products; from tobacco, it makes compost powder; and from the filters, it makes soft toys and cushions.

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  A factory worker separates the paper, tobacco and filters from the stubs, before the three materials are processed.

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  'We started from 10 grams [of fibre] and right now, we are doing 1,000 kilograms per day. We have come a long way and annually we are able to recycle millions of cigarette butts,' Mr Gupta said.

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  Poonam, a worker in Mr Gupta's factory, said the business venture served dual purposes for people like her.

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  'We work here as it helps to keep our environment clean and we can also earn some extra money for our expenses,' she said.

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