If pollution is a major problem, then a Noida resident has found a way to kick its butt, quite literally! Meet Naman Gupta, whose unique approach to combat pollution has gone viral on social media, with over 271k views and 14.4k likes. As a part of his sustainable venture, he is upscaling burnt cigarette butts into plush toys such as teddy bears and yarn that is further used to weave garments.
“The sheer volume of cigarette butts we handle is what made the recent video go viral now though it was filmed back in 2021,” says the 30-year-old, adding, “With the rising AQI levels wreaking havoc on people’s health, seeing such a massive pile of cigarette butts in one place probably struck a chord.”
Gupta works out of his factory at Sector 134 in Nangli Village and says he chose to build something of his own right after college. An alumnus of Delhi University’s School of Open Learning, he shares, “I started Code Efforts at the age of 24, shortly after graduating from DU. I wanted to create something meaningful and saw an opportunity in an issue I couldn’t ignore — cigarette butts littering the streets, despite being a non-smoker myself. Initially, I thought it was just cotton and should be easy to recycle. But as I researched further, I realised it was an untapped market with minimal regulations or government policies in place. So, I decided to tackle it. It took me around seven months to develop a process for recycling everything including the filter, paper, fibre and even tobacco... Over the years, we’ve come a long way from just creating stuffing for soft toys. Today, recycled cigarette butts are used to produce stationery, paper reams, and even woven yarn.”
Recalling his journey, he remembers how starting the business seemed perfect on paper but its execution was a different ball game altogether. Gupta adds, “In the first two years we didn’t have a continuous supply and were processing just 200 to 300 cigarette butts a day, which only yielded 50 to 100 grams of usable product. Today, we process 6,00,000 to 7,00,000 cigarette butts daily, and are recycling about one to 1.5 tons in our Noida plant. We’ve also built a network of 2,500 ragpickers across 250 districts in India and employ 100 rural women artisans.”
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{{/usCountry}}Recalling his journey, he remembers how starting the business seemed perfect on paper but its execution was a different ball game altogether. Gupta adds, “In the first two years we didn’t have a continuous supply and were processing just 200 to 300 cigarette butts a day, which only yielded 50 to 100 grams of usable product. Today, we process 6,00,000 to 7,00,000 cigarette butts daily, and are recycling about one to 1.5 tons in our Noida plant. We’ve also built a network of 2,500 ragpickers across 250 districts in India and employ 100 rural women artisans.”