SAKO Brno, the City of Brno’s municipal waste collection and processing company, has collected a total of 1,435 tons of biodegradable waste from brown waste bins to be transported to the composting plant since the beginning of 2024, an increase of about 10% from the previous year.
Brno garbage collectors collected the most biowaste in October (171 tons), and the least in February (98 tons).
However, the company is concerned about the level of contamination in the waste containers; they often have inappropriate materials placed in them, including plastic, paper, glass, and even construction debris.
“Almost 10% of the collected material, we will not be able to take to the Brno Central Composting Plant,” said Pavel Urubek, chairman of the board of directors of SAKO Brno. If the contents of brown bins are excessively contaminated during collection, it is not possible to process their contents. According to Urubek, the level of contamination varies between the seasons. During the winter, it does not exceed 8%, but in the summer and autumn it is higher, around 10%. January was the month with the least contamination (6.6%), while September saw the most (10.1%).
Heavily contaminated biowaste is instead sent to Brno’s waste-to-energy facility, where it is mixed with other municipal waste and incinerated to produce heat or electricity.
“Which is a shame,” said Urubel. “Because there will never be enough quality compost, and biowaste, which contains a lot of moisture, would have been better converted into quality humus in the composting plant.”
The most common offences are putting biowaste in plastic or paper bags, and throwing away kitchen scraps of animal origin. SAKO Brno therefore reminds residents that, aside from bones, meat, oil, and eggshells also do not belong in brown bins. In spring, and especially in autumn, the collection company faces the further nuisance of the brown bins being overfilled with garden waste, typically raked grass and dry branches.
“I would like to remind residents that brown bins are intended exclusively for the collection of kitchen scraps of plant origin,” said Urubek. “Bulky garden waste belongs in the collection yard, or in home composters, which is the best option. Composting at home is the cheapest, most ecological and most natural way of dealing with biowaste.”
However, not all properties have the conditions for home composting, which is why the system of public brown bins was rolled out. One crew is dedicated to the collection of biodegradable waste in Brno, and gradually covers the entire city. It sets out on weekdays from 6 am, and travels about 100 kilometres per day, an average of 450 kilometres per week. Public interest in sorting biowaste is growing constantly, and so the number of containers is increasing slightly every year, from the initial 800 to the current 1,650.
- Brown bins are intended for the collection of kitchen biowaste, especially leftover food of plant origin, peels and trimmings, pits, coffee grounds, and loose tea.
- Under no circumstances should animal waste, such as meat, fat, skin and bones, dairy products, frying oils, packaging, newspapers, diapers, tissues, cigarettes, dog excrement or dead animals be placed in them.
- For capacity reasons, it is also not advisable to fill them with grass clippings, branches, leaves, or other garden waste.
