Brussels (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Brussels is installing underground trash bins in 20 locations with plans for 30 more to enhance waste management. However political focus has lagged complicating expansion efforts due to infrastructure challenges and illegal dumping issues
In Brussels they’re putting underground trash bins in about 20 spots now and plan to add 30 more. These bins are part of a plan to keep the city clean and make it easier for people. They especially like using these bins in new building projects where Net Brussel the city’s waste company works with developers to include them in the design. In Tivoli district of Laken people use special underground trash bins that are safe and easy to use. Residents have a badge to access these bins so only they can throw away their trash. This system helps handle waste better and solves problems with trash pickup and how the city looks.
Why is Brussels struggling to implement underground trash bins?
Politically they’ve been talking about adding more underground trash bins in Brussels for a while but recent governments haven’t made much progress on this. In the past the State Secretary for Cleanliness and the outgoing Minister of the Environment didn’t make expanding underground trash bins a big priority. They focused on other things instead of pushing for more of these bins. The political focus in both periods didn’t match well with adding more underground trash bins. Even though people like the idea actually making it happen has been slow or not a big priority recently.
It has been said that it’s tough to add more underground trash bins because of cables and pipes underground and the need to remove parking spaces. These bins attract illegal dumping and aren’t used correctly. People need to know more about sorting waste and there are challenges in enforcing the rules. The bins are hard to track who’s not sorting correctly. Using special trucks for these bins is tricky due to Brussels’ streets. Maron is thinking about adding more underground trash bins with help from the local areas. They’re also considering a idea like a waste vacuum cleaner system used in the Netherlands and New York.
