‘’What’s Cooking’’? Behind the scenes: sorting waste starting from the kitchen"

Those dodgy bin lorries

Each of us must have come across the collection of waste by the employees of municipal services. A bin lorry pulls up and ... well, what? From the perspective of an average "viewer", bins are mounted on a special jack, which then lifts them, turns them upside down and the bags fall out of the bin. And then another bin and another bin, and so on. Everything goes to one compartment of the vehicle… So much about appearances. Now, let’s get down to business.

Tell us straight: How many times have you actually seen it looking like that? Did you know how a bin lorry container is built? Or have you kept statistics on which day garbage is picked up and which colour bins are emptied in a particular week? Your perspective is deceptive. Anyway, it's not just about you, because the myth of "one chamber" is commonplace. That's why you have to dispel it once and for all.

In a bin lorry waste from different containers does not mix together. Plastic bin waste goes to a separate chamber - so that it can be recycled later. On the other hand, single-chamber garbage trucks collect only one type of fraction, for example waste from the blue bin is collected on Wednesdays and other waste is picked up on Thursdays. It all depends on the work schedule in a given city or municipality

In addition, we should bear in mind that segregated rubbish is placed in bags, so the employees of the sorting plant can immediately see what type of waste they are dealing with.

Recovery of segregated waste

What happens to plastic waste that can be recycled? The bin lorry transports it to the sorting plant, and then the separated plastic fractions are sold to the recycler. There they are re-sorted, manually and automatically, for example according to the material used to make the used packaging. Then, they are washed and cut into small pieces, which, after melting, become regranulate. It is a material that is potentially fit for further use.

So it makes sense if you separate waste on your own. Moreover, you are required to do it by law. This is stated in the Act of 19 July 2019 on maintaining cleanliness and order in municipalities and some other acts (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 1579, as amended). According to the provisions of this act, each property owner is obliged to carry out selective waste collection. But you have to start with your own kitchen.

“Segregation is tricky”

No, it is not. The rules are quite transparent, and - most importantly - once mastered, they become a habit. Where should each type of waste go?

• PAPER BIN: used waste paper (also from a shredder), cardboard boxes, notebooks with a cardboard cover, newspapers and leaflets, books and notebooks, paper bags not soiled with food. All the above waste should be dry.

• What must not be thrown there: greasy napkins and sandwich wrapper, used disposable handkerchiefs, film- coated paper, wet paper and cardboard.

• ‘PLASTIC AND METAL’ BIN: plastic bottles, bags, plastic bags, aluminum and steel cans, plastic household chemicals and cosmetics packaging, caps and screw caps, multi-material packaging (the so-called TetraPak, i.e. juice or milk cartons), dairy tubs/pots (yoghurts). Each municipality informs its inhabitants in detail what is allowed to be thrown into the containers of a given type, because it all depends on the company sorting the waste and its ability to separate individual fractions and their subsequent sale to a recycler

• What should not be thrown there: medicine blisters, used batteries, paint cans and other chemicals.

• ’GLASS’ BIN: jars, drink bottles and alcohol bottles, glass packaging from cosmetics.

• What should not be thrown there: mirrors and broken glass panes, ceramics and porcelain, light bulbs, candles with wax content.

• ’MIXED-WASTE’ BIN: Animal- derived waste (e.g. chicken bones), contaminated paper, ceramics and porcelain, broken glass, SILBO biodegradable packaging.

• What must not be thrown there: batteries and accumulators, light bulbs, broken electronic equipment (so-called electro-waste).

• ’ORGANIC WASTE/COMPOST’ BIN : leaves and grass, fruit and vegetable peelings, rotten plants, organic food scraps (except meat), coffee and tea grounds, raw wood elements such as ice cream sticks, drink stirrers.

• What must not be thrown there: bones and animal excrements, impregnated wood, ash.

Start with the wise use of space for storing household waste. In Poland, it is most often stored in the kitchen, or more precisely, in a press under the sink. This is a good place to put sorting baskets there.

In stores today you can buy convenient and neat kits for home fractionation. Most often, such a set consists of four containers, but you can of course designate additional containers for a specific type of garbage.

Okay, the garbage has been sorted into the correct bags in the kitchen bins. What's next? Each apartment building and house should be assigned various types of municipal or communal bins, which are then collected by bin lorries.

“You need a lot of space for segregating waste”

This is another myth. In fact, sometimes segregated waste is more "expansionary" than the waste placed in a single container. Suddenly you have to find the space for several types. But it's not a problem.

Before making a purchase, it is worth considering what type of waste accumulates in your household in the greatest amount. Do you use a lot of plastic bottles? You need to allocate more space for them than for other rubbish to avoid bags "spilling" out of the cupboard. Such an ugly mess effectively discourages the idea of segregating waste, and this is not the point.

When you see more and more rubbish piling up, just take care of taking it out regularly. It's a good idea to make it a habit, for example to take a full set of rubbish with you every second morning while going out to work.