9 trillion cigarette butts were generated worldwide in 2025. They could be a low-cost, widely available carbon resource. Their structure is a promising starting point for making high quality porous carbon materials which, with their very high surface area and ability to conduct charge, make excellent electrodes in energy storage devices called supercapacitors, promising higher power output and faster charging than batteries.
www.ugr.es/en/about/news/design-sustainable-and-more-resistant-asphalt-using-cigarette-butts