Boston Big Local has funded a £1,200 purpose-built street vac which Boston Borough Council’s Street Cleansing team are using to clean up cigarette litter. The vac can reach the places the mechanical street sweeper can’t get to. Cigarette litter includes the cellophane wrapper that is discarded when the box is opened, as well as the cigarette butts and the cardboard container. The filter tips from cigarette butts take many years to biodegrade and discarded cigarettes can also release toxins. Despite having this new piece of clean-up equipment, cigarette smokers in Boston are asked not to throw their cigarette butts to the ground. If they do, they can be fined a fixed penalty of £75 for littering.

In the first two hours of use, the street vac collected two black bin liners of cigarette butts and other small pieces of rubbish.

The street vac has been funded as part of Boston Big Local’s themed activities aimed at providing a more attractive environment.