Overview

• Ordnungsamt teams in plainclothes and uniform are patrolling this week to ticket people who discard cigarette butts in public spaces.
• Under current rules, offenders face a €55 warning or a penalty of up to €120, the district said.
• Officials cite environmental and health risks from toxins leaching into groundwater and the danger to children and animals if butts are swallowed.
• Berliner Stadtreinigung removes about 2.9 billion cigarette butts from public streets each year, a workload Bezirksstadtrat Christopher Schriner calls a massive problem for Mitte.
• The Senate’s proposed Bußgeldkatalog would lift the fine to €250 per butt and increase penalties for dog waste and bulky waste, but it is not in force pending review by the Rat der Bürgermeister and a final Senate decision.