Chris Jorgensen, 38, told The Province newspaper in Vancouver he and two friends came up with the idea after noticing how many people throw cigarette butts on city streets, out of car windows and into playground sandboxes.

"It's about the litter and the fire hazard, primarily," he said.

However, he said people who didn't care about the return fee and littered the butts anyway would provide homeless people with a source of income by collecting them for cash.

Recycling Council of B.C. spokeswoman Mairi Welman said there were too many problems with the idea, including toxic waste issues in collecting and storing the chemical-laden cigarette filters.

In the United States, Maine's legislature debated a similar idea in 2001, but defeated it out of fear cigarette buyers would simply load up in neighboring states, the report said.