Pilot project to double the volume of separated waste

More than double the amount of plastics compared to the usual monthly average, an 82 percent increase in sorted paper and a 32 percent drop in mixed municipal waste. Such is the current result of OZO Ostrava’s pilot project in the collection of separated waste into blue-yellow bins, which was launched in October 2018 in the Ostrava district of Radvanice and Bartovice.

The system is also successful economically. Although the monthly price of collection of separated components increased significantly, the increased costs were offset by reduced frequency of mixed waste collection.

“However, these positive results are still not entirely decisive”, says Petr Bielan, Technical Deputy of OZO Ostrava. “We have to wait for results in the longer term, as household waste generation is changing over the course of a calendar year. We will have the final conclusions at the end of this year.”

The project, which runs until the end of 2019, is now half way through. After its completion, the results will be compared with other systems of collection of separated waste.

“This comparison should be the basis for recommendations on how to sort more recoverable waste not only for Ostrava, but also for other municipalities cooperating with OZO Ostrava. However, it is already evident that the form of collection of separated waste components directly from family houses can be one way to increase the recovery rate of municipal waste”, says Karel Belda, Director of OZO Ostrava.

Comparison of the average monthly amount of sorted raw materials in Radvanice and Bartovice before the pilot project started in March 2019