Waste segregation. Penalties for doing the wrong thing can be severe. How to do it correctly?

From January 2020, new regulations came into force, according to which we segregate waste into five fractions: paper (blue container), metals and plastics (yellow container), glass (green), bio (brown) and mixed waste (black container). This means that we have to find additional space for garbage bins in the apartment. While house owners have no major problem with allocating space for containers, apartment dwellers face quite a challenge.

How to accommodate waste bins in the kitchen?

We usually place the waste bin under the sink. If the cabinet cannot accommodate several large buckets, you can choose smaller ones. When choosing this solution, we must be prepared for the fact that the garbage will have to be taken out more often.

It is a good idea to place a bio-waste container on the inside door of the sink cabinet. We throw away this garbage most often, so it’s good to have a container for it at hand. It is best to place garbage that we throw away less frequently, such as glass or plastic, at the back of the cabinet. Paper waste, because it takes up little space after being crushed, can even be kept in a plastic bag or a paper bag that we bring with our purchases from the store. Of course, it is most convenient to choose special containers, which not only cause fewer problems but also look impressive. We looked through the trash cans available for sale and checked how much they cost.

A trio, three in one basket

Until recently, we sorted waste into three containers, which is why in stores you can often find bins with three separate compartments. The red part is intended for organic waste, the yellow color indicates the compartment intended for metal and plastic waste, and the green part should go to glass waste. As we mentioned earlier, bio-waste and paper can easily be dealt with in other ways. Such baskets can stand alone in the kitchen or be hidden in a cupboard.

• The Curver Trio 40 l basket with three separate chambers can be purchased at Castorama. The container has a cover that limits unpleasant odors from entering the room. The basket is available in gray and black, which makes dirt less visible. It is designed to stand outside the kitchen cabinet. The price is PLN 138.

• The ECO24 store also offers a three-compartment sorting bin. Each chamber is equipped with an internal bucket to facilitate emptying the container of waste. Install plastic bags without any problems. Each chamber has a capacity of 15 liters. The basket is made of high-quality stainless steel. Therefore, its price is quite high. It costs PLN 399.

• Eco-Market has an interesting offer for its customers. The Ovwettonie basket not only meets the needs of functionality, but also pleases approxabout interesting appearance. It has three containers, the doors of which may have different markings or colors – depending on the type of waste. The basket is rotatable, you can place it, for example, in a corner and have easy access to each compartment. In order to reduce the volume of waste, a plastic bottle crusher is installed at the top, thanks to which a larger number of bottles can be accommodated. As we can read on the store’s website, the container is the winner of the “Vepucci Award 2008” (Florence), was selected among the first thirty Italian designs (New York, 2008), and is also the winner of the “WT Award 2010” (Milan). Such prizes are binding, so the price of the basket is correspondingly higher. It costs PLN 680.

Set of containers

Several containers will allow you to arrange the baskets in a way that suits you. We can choose containers in various sizes. We can also divide them, some of them can be in the cupboard, some in another place.

• Baskets in various sizes and shapes can be found in the Ikea assortment. Kitchen furniture from this chain can be found in many Polish homes, including pull-out drawers. They can accommodate several VARIERA containers. A small 2-liter container – e.g. for bio-waste – costs PLN 8. A large 22-liter bottle can be purchased for PLN 24.99. The foldable handle keeps the garbage bag in place and makes it easier to carry the bin. Rounded corners make cleaning easier.

• Peka offers the Pullboy Vario 600 waste bin, a set of four containers inserted directly into the drawer. The set includes 4 containers with different capacities: 17-liter, 11-liter, 8-liter and 5-liter, The whole is finished in gray style. The containers are made of good quality, durable, odorless plastic. Price: PLN 446.00.

• If you are looking for something cheaper, it is worth paying attention to the SortiBox 4 x 25l waste bin, which you can buy at the OBI DIY store. The containers can be stacked on top of each other, so they won’t take up much space. They can also be placed in a different configuration. They are made of high-quality material resistant to scratches, stains and traces of grease. You can buy them now on sale for only PLN 89.99.

Severe penalties

You can find many containers on the market, at various prices. It is worth investing in bins, because subsequent municipalities impose fines on residents who do not segregate waste. Depending on the decision of the local government (city or commune council), people who do not segregate waste will pay no less than twice and no more than four times the amount of the garbage fee.I for example, in Warsaw, the fixed monthly amount for collecting segregated waste from a single-family house will be PLN 94, and from a multi-family apartment – PLN 65 per month. However, if waste is not sorted, the fees will be twice as high. Worst of all, it only takes one resident of a block not to segregate waste for everyone to be charged a double fee.

Recently, the capital has introduced two types of stickers that garbage collection companies can place on containers. They may appear on a container when it contains waste from various fractions or when there is rubble, bricks or electronic equipment in the container. In the second case, the container will not be emptied until the residents get rid of the problematic waste.