Dollywood recycles plastic from 250,000 cigarette butts

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Dollywood partnered with Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful to gather and recycle the plastic of 250,000 cigarette butts.

To start the process, 26 cigarette receptacles were delivered to Dollywood to collect the butts. Dollywood staff regularly emptied the receptacles until the boxes were full and ready to be sent off to a shipping facility in New Jersey.

Two benches made of cigarette plastic have been gifted to the theme park by KTNRB as a token of gratitude. They were installed near the River Rampage ride.

Representatives from the groups that made Dollywood's massive cigarette plastic recycling... — Representatives from the groups that made Dollywood's massive cigarette plastic recycling project possible pose with a bench made from recycled cigarette plastic.(Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful)

“Dollywood has been recognized as one of the most beautiful theme parks in the world due, in part, to the beauty of East Tennessee,” said Carol Agee, Dollywood Sr. Manager of Community Affairs and Strategic Alliances. “It is vital for us to maintain this beauty by caring for our natural surroundings. Through our partnership with KTNRB, we are able to take hundreds of thousands of cigarette butts and remove them from the waste stream.”

The project is still underway. To date, more than 275,000 cigarette butts have been recycled in the seven-state effort, making Dollywood the largest recycler in KTNRB’s Cigarette Litter Prevention Program.