Waste Prague: Prague residents sorted more this year
“Apparently, they are partially diverting biodegradable waste from black containers to brown ones. Up until now, it has been the case that up to 40 percent of the contents of black bins are made up of bio-waste. Since January last year, it was possible to order a brown container for free, which caused considerable interest on the part of the residents of the metropolis and an almost 100% increase in the amount thrown away,” said Mana.
In brown containers like that 12,845 tons of bio-waste ended up in the year, but in the previous year it was 6,435 tons. “In the three years since it was included in the sorting of bio-waste in the waste system, the people of Prague sorted 24,276 tons of it, and all of its production ended up in composting plants,” said Mana.
The amount of other sorted waste also increased last year compared to 2021. It ended up in the blue containers almost 25,766 tons of paper, i.e. add about one ton more, people threw 16,625 tons of plastic into the yellow bins, which is more than half a ton more, and sorted 19,140 tons of glass, about 93 tons more. The people of Prague sorted the least amount of beverage cartons and metals, namely 1126 tons and 831 tons, respectively.
New sorting line
PSAS is completing a new sorting line in Chrášťany near Prague, which will enable the so-called multi-commodity collection of waste. This means that it will be possible to throw away metal packaging and beverage cartons in the yellow plastic containers. “The new line will then be able to separate them from each other. So it is not a thoughtless mixing of waste. The effort is to make sorting easier for the citizens of Prague and increase its comfort. It will no longer be necessary to go with three bags, but one will be enough,” added Mana.
There are roughly 123,000 containers for mixed waste on the streets of Prague. At the same time, there are 3,482 outdoor stations for sorted waste with colored containers and 3,067 household sorting nests. In total, there are approximately 26,500 containers for sorted waste distributed around Prague. 34,900 brown containers are used for biowaste collection.
Old combustion line before modernization.
Author: Daniel Vitous