From no recycling to zero waste: how Ljubljana rethought its rubbish
Fifteen years ago, all
the Slovenian capital’s waste went to landfill, but by 2025, at least 75% of
its rubbish will be recycled. How did the city turn itself around?
From the lush green hill you can see Ljubljana,
the capital of Slovenia,
in the distance. Populations of deer, rabbits and turtles live here. The air is
clean and the only signs that we are standing above a 24-metre (79 feet) deep
landfill are the methane gas pipes rising from the grass. Ljubljana is the first
European capital to commit to going zero-waste. But fifteen years ago, all of
its refuse went straight to landfill. “And that is expensive,” says Nina
Sankovič of Voka Snaga, the city’s waste management company. “It takes up space
and you’re throwing away resources.”
So the city decided to
change course.
It began in 2002 with
separate collection of paper, glass and packaging in roadside container stands.
Four years later, the city began collecting biodegradable waste door to door;
separate collection of biowaste is set to become mandatory across Europe in 2023,
but Ljubljana was nearly two decades ahead of the curve. In 2013, every
doorstep in the city received bins for packaging and paper waste. And, most
controversially, scheduled collections of the residual waste were cut by half –
forcing people to separate their rubbish more efficiently.
The results have been
impressive. In 2008, the city recycled only 29.3% of its waste and was lagging
behind the rest of Europe. Today that figure is 68%, and its landfill receives
almost 80% less rubbish, putting it at the top of the recycling leaderboard of
EU capitals. The Slovenian capital now produces only 115 kg of residual waste
per capita annually (the European city with the lowest figure is the much
smaller Treviso, Italy, at 59kg)... read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/may/23/zero-recycling-to-zero-waste-how-ljubljana-rethought-its-rubbish
