Two brothers have been recycling something harmful into useful products. Code Effort was launched to make useful products from recycled cigarette butts.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous to health and their butts are harmful for the environment.
Naman Gupta, 27, and Vipul Gupta, 29, both from Noida, have made a fortune by recycling the cigarette butts that litter every Indian street and public area.
According to statistics, almost 4.5 trillion cigarette butts are scattered worldwide each year, with approximately 120 million smokers in India.
Cigarette butts not only pollute the environment but also pollute the ecosystem because they take approximately 10 years to disintegrate.
The Gupta brothers developed a method for recycling hazardous cigarette butts into helpful materials, which are subsequently utilised to manufacture a variety of products such as mosquito repellants, beds, soft toys, key chains, cushions, and pillows.
Since its inception in 2018, their company, Code Effort Private Limited, has recycled around three million cigarette butts during the fiscal year 2020-21, with a total revenue of Rs 2 crore.
According to Vipul, it is acceptable for residential use because it is a slow-burning repellant and the fume repels mosquitoes rather than killing them.
The polymer fibre is shredded and then chemically treated with biodegradable organic compounds to create a cotton-like substance.
It is then used as filling material for several of their products, including mattresses and pillows with jute, sequin, or velvet covers.
These materials are marketed under the Vmake brand.
They make certain that the recycling procedure at their business in Nagli village, Noida Sector-134, does not hurt the environment.
“We reuse the waste water generated by polymer recycling to ensure that the operation is fully carbon neutral,” Naman says.
The recycle operation employs three full-time workers and a team of day labourers.
They employ 40-50 women who use sewing machines to make pillows, mattresses, and other things.
Their products are only available on social media and are not available on Amazon, Flipkart, or Myntra.
Collecting butts has been difficult, but they have now established collecting centres in 200 of India’s 748 districts, including 80 in Uttar Pradesh.
In addition, collection bins have been installed in the smoking rooms of corporate organisations, NGOs, BPOs, and Cafés in Delhi, Noida, and Gurugram.
The company has hired approximately 100 contractors to collect butts from throughout the country and transport them to their factory in Noida.
Each month, the company receives between 6,000-7,000 kg of cigarette butts.
Vipul shares some intriguing data, stating that 1 kg of stuffing material can make 400 key chains and 1 kg of paper can make 3,000 mosquito paper mats.
According to Naman, there is a lot of room for growth in the recycling of cigarette butts because there hasn’t been much research done on it and there aren’t many participants in the industry.
He said they intend to keep researching and developing new items such as air and water purifiers, combs, buttons, fashion accessories, and fabric.
The brothers also reveal that their outstanding effort has earned them a place in the Limca Book of Records 2022.
