THUNDER BAY — Even though a novel waste collection system stopped nearly 1,500 pieces of trash from entering city storm drains in 2024, EcoSuperior says it expects those numbers to be higher this year.
Last year, the environmental not-for-profit installed the LittaTraps — effectively basket-like devices that sit inside storm drains and catch garbage — in 16 locations around Thunder Bay in April and May, said Kennedy Bucci, the rethinking waste coordinator at EcoSuperior.
However, because they were installed after last spring’s main melt, she said, it’s almost certain that a lot of garbage that had built up on the ground over the winter wasn’t caught when warmer weather hit. Because the traps stay in the drains year-round, Bucci continued, she said she expects 2025’s end-of-year numbers to reflect that.
“Probably a lot of cigarettes or like a lot of plastic waste that accumulates over the winter went down the storm drains before we had a chance to install the filters,” she said.
EcoSuperior personnel monitor the drain traps throughout the year when there’s little to no snow, Bucci said. The totals from 2024 were included in the City of Thunder Bay’s drinking water quality annual report.
Of the trash collected in 2024, Bucci said that just over 60 per cent of it was discarded cigarette butts and tobacco packaging.
“That's a pretty huge amount of litter that's going down the drains,” she said. “I think there's a misconception that cigarette butts just would disintegrate because they're made of paper, maybe — but that's not actually the case.”
“Cigarette butts, even though they have paper on the outside … the filters are actually made of a plastic called cellulose acetate,” Bucci continued. “And obviously, they also contain tons of different chemicals that are harmful to human health.”
“They're also harmful to wildlife and ecosystem health, so cigarette butts going down the storm drains is a major issue in our city and in other cities around the world too.”
Predictably, Bucci said, the drain traps near more populated areas, like downtown cores and public parks, saw more litter in them than in quieter areas, however, she added, that data can be used to determine how to better place things like garbage and recycling receptacles with the hope that people will use them and not throw trash on the ground.
The 16 traps will stay in place this year, Bucci said, with the hope of adding more of them in 2026.
