VALORIZATION OF CIGARETTE WASTE FOR ECO-FRIENDLY PEST CONTROL: A NICOTINE EXTRACTION APPROACH

The wide application of pesticides in agriculture is associated with colossal environmental and health hazards, from ecosystem disruption to water-body contamination and adverse health effects. These challenges create an even greater demand for greener, more sustainable methods of controlling pests. The present work attempts to address the challenges in this regard by formulating a new pesticide from nicotine extracted from cigarette waste, which is one of the most abundant but less commonly utilized resources. This led to the isolation of nicotine by recycling tobacco residues and formulation into a number of pesticide preparations. These preparations were used on mint plants in order to assess their effectiveness in controlling infestation on the plants without destroying them. The results obtained indicated a high efficacy of nicotine-based pesticides, since the treated plants had no signs of pest attack compared to the untreated ones. Of all the different formulations used, the 0.01% nicotine-water mixture turned out to be the most economic and environmentally friendly solution that meets the design objectives of this project in terms of sustainability, efficiency, and minimal side effects on human health and the environment. This new approach offers a solution for effective pest management and waste reduction in sustainability through cigarette waste, thus contributing to both environmental protection and agricultural sustainability.