What is garbage sorting. What colors of bags are intended for different types of household waste. Are there processing plants in Russia? How many? Is it true that they are underused?

For a little more than six months we have been collecting separately everything that can be handed over, getting rid of a significant amount of our garbage from city dumps, making our small contribution to making St. Petersburg cleaner and more conscious. It all started, and we liked this experience so much that we began to take everything else.

By no means do I think that everyone should do this (although, I hope, soon everyone MUST!), but if suddenly you personally have long been mentally prepared, but did not know where to start, I tell you:

Step 2 Once pour water into an empty tetrapack, shake, pour, unbend the corners, fold flat and put somewhere in comfortable spot. Or start folding dirty food packaging with dirty dishes and washing together, better.

Step 3 Decide for yourself that I will start with one thing, for example, only with glass / paper / plastic marked 5 / tetra packs / foamed trays (underline the selected one) :)
Step 4 Arrange an experiment for yourself, say, for a month, to see how it fits into your lifestyle, do you now have to take out the contents of the trash can less often, do you like the feeling of your own greater eco-responsibility?

Step 5 Add to the calendar (write in a diary or hang a note on the refrigerator) the date of the next action. In St. Petersburg, this is every first Saturday of the month, the nearest one is April 4! But where can I donate raw materials on a normal day.

Step 6 When the day of the action comes, collect all separately collected waste and bring it to the action. Excellent volunteers work there, they will tell you, help you figure out what to put where and what is suitable for processing and what is not. Some of them seem to be able to determine the type of plastic by touch, even if it is unmarked.

That's it, mission accomplished! I was surprised how much our first waste collection inspired me, with what joyful anticipation I now look forward to every first Saturday of the month. During this time, I miraculously stopped worrying about plastic packaging, still, of course, I try to do without it, but if something gets into our house, I now know that it is fixable. And every month, seeing like-minded people, many of whom come on bicycles and with children, I believe that constant changes for the better are taking place, although not always immediately noticeable. I’ll tell you a secret, I don’t want to leave for a long time, there is such an interesting people watching! And of course a great chance to meet friends!

A few hints:

– you can agree to bring waste to the share with friends, and, for example, if you are in the center, then having fulfilled your eco-duty, you can safely go to dinner together in Dill (the action takes place on Marat right next to Dill!) :)
- you can not start 5-7 buckets for different types waste, but simply put everything that can be recycled, in one separate container, sort it quickly just before the action itself, or, for example, put waste paper in a separate box (some people put it in the entrance), glass in a bag in which you will carry it later, and put the washed plastic into each other right next to clean dishes ...
- Moscow also has

Separate waste collection is one of the ways to reduce the environmental burden on environment. The contents of our trash cans consist mainly of four parts: organic waste (food leftovers), plastic, glass and paper. These materials are recyclable.

Separation of MSW keeps food residues from contaminating recyclable materials, keeps recyclable materials intact, and prevents rotting and bacterial growth.

It should be noted that separate waste is a concept that begins to work primarily “from below”: it is necessary to sort waste starting from the level of individuals, and the effectiveness of this method largely depends on the conscientiousness of sorting. This approach requires responsibility and awareness.

Separate waste collection allows you to unload landfills and sorting lines of waste processing plants and reduce the level of environmental pollution. The decay products of garbage pollute both the air and the water bodies from which it comes. drinking water, and soil.

Advantages and benefits of separate collection

The principle of waste separation can make life easier in many ways - both at the level of individuals and at the level of the state. In countries where waste separation has long been practiced, there are “environmental incentives” for individuals and businesses: you can get a discount on utility services or, in the case of industries, subsidies and tax breaks.

At the same time, enterprises that separate waste receive not only monetary benefits: people interested in preserving the environment begin to be more loyal to them and their products.

In the case of individuals, the benefits are more moral than material - the opportunity to feel their contribution to the cleansing and preservation of our planet, to feel their own usefulness. However, there is also a material component: in many countries, the delivery of separated waste will allow you to earn some extra money.

On a national scale, the initial sorting of MSW also benefits. Firstly, it creates additional jobs at processing plants, in the transportation of waste. Secondly, it allows you to save non-renewable resources like oil and natural gas, from which plastic and most of synthetic fibres.

There is also no need for the state to allocate large areas for landfills and landfills, appearance urban and rural areas, the stability of ecosystems, and the attitude of that part of the electorate that is interested in environmental issues.

Cons and problems of separate collection

One of the main disadvantages is a rather slow payback. Processing enterprises need a long time to “recapture” investments, therefore, for small businesses, this area is practically unsustainable without consolidation or government subsidies.

The cost of processing equipment remains high even without the inclusion of automatic sorting lines, and finding workers for this area is much more difficult than for an office - it is not prestigious.

The secondary raw material market in our country is poorly developed, so it may happen that citizens sort out garbage, but there is nowhere to process it in their city.

Another stumbling block is the irresponsible attitude of people and their unwillingness to create additional work for themselves. It is much easier to throw out the garbage all in a crowd, without thinking about where it will go later. On the other hand, there is a certain mistrust towards the authorities and processing enterprises: “separate, do not divide, everything is the same - it will just go to the landfill, nothing is done right here.”

sorting process

The very first stage of sorting is to separate food waste from other waste. If you live in apartment building, organics, most likely, will have to continue to be thrown into the garbage chute. For residents of the private sector, this category of waste is sent to compost.

• paper;
• plastic (mainly bottles);
• glass;
• metal (cans from drinks, canned food).

To begin with, you can start collecting only paper and cardboard, especially if you have not yet agreed with the household on the separation of waste. There is a waste paper collection point in most cities. Waste paper collection will let you get used to the idea separate garbage, and at paper collection points you can find out where other categories of garbage are accepted.

Plastic bottles, aluminum cans and tetra-packs are best pressed together so that they do not take up much space. In other words, flatten. You can buy a home press, but just the strength of your hands or your own weight will be enough. The main thing - do not forget to unscrew the cap. You can also give compactness to aluminum cans.

You can store sorted garbage until removal at home, on a balcony or in a pantry, or you can negotiate with neighbors in the stairwell or at the entrance and, with the help of the management company, arrange your own tanks for different materials.

Separate waste collection in Russia

One of the reasons why waste sorting and production from recycled materials is not commercialized in Russia, as, for example, in Europe, is the high cost of recycling compared to the low cost of landfill. European scavengers a ton of hard household waste, taken to the burial, costs a thousand euros, and Russian - only fifteen.

Tariffs for the removal of unsorted waste abroad are also much higher, so many people there think not so much about the ecological situation and the preservation of the environment, but about simple savings.

Legislation

Legislation in Russia in the field of waste separation is just beginning to emerge. So, on December 31, 2017, the President signed a law on introducing separate waste collection and providing incentive measures. The article of the law amending the federal legislation in the field of production and consumption waste comes into force on January 1, 2019. Since January 2018, many categories of waste are prohibited from being buried in landfills. Previously, a separate license was required to install waste separation tanks, but now the procedure has been simplified. This allows us to hope for the development of a waste separation and recycling system in Russia.

The law also regulates the placement of waste processing complexes - now, for their arrangement on the territory, a resolution of citizens living in this territory will be required. The placement of tanks and garbage disposal will also have to be approved at meetings of homeowners and management companies.

Prior to the adoption of these laws, the initiative was mainly raised from below - from environmental activists. Since the 2000s, Greenpeace Russia has been carrying out projects for the separation of solid waste in certain areas of Moscow and St. Petersburg, campaigns where you can hand over separated waste from any area.

Separate waste collection points

Finding separate waste collection points in the city or region where you live is quite simple: most of them are official organizations marked on the maps. Any help here search system navigation - Yandex, Google, DoubleGis, although information about addresses, phone numbers and opening hours is sometimes updated out of time there.

On the Greenpeace website, you can use interactive map(http://recyclemap.ru/), which lists garbage collection points. The default region is Moscow Oblast, but you can switch it by zooming the map and clicking on the capital of your region.

The map is convenient in that you can determine what type (or several types) of waste you need to hand over, and get the addresses of collection points in the output:

• paper;
• glass;
• plastic;
• metal;
• clothes;
• hazardous waste;
• batteries;
• lamps;
• household appliances;
• tetrapack packages;
• other waste.

The separation of MSW is also practiced by many chain stores: collection of batteries, disposable containers. Tanks for different types waste are installed at the stations of Russian railways.

Separate waste collection projects

Separate waste collection projects are systematically held in many large cities - in addition to Moscow and St. Petersburg, also in Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Perm, Tula, Kirov, Novokuznetsk, Ulan-Ude and others.

Separate waste collection at the enterprise

Even more than in city apartments and private houses, it is advisable to arrange places for separate waste collection at enterprises. Since much more waste is generated there due to the volume of production, then there will be correspondingly more income from garbage. Yes, and in accordance with the new law, industries that are responsible for waste will receive benefits.

For most organizations, the transition to a solid waste separation system will be much easier than for individuals, if only because, due to fire and biological safety requirements, many of them have long been storing different types of waste separately. For example, oiled rags or sawdust as required fire safety must be collected in non-combustible containers with lids.

Overseas experience

In Europe, waste separation has been practiced for a long time - some elements of this system were used back in the fifties of the last century, and the practice of waste separation began to be fully applied from the eighties in the Netherlands. Today it is one of the cleanest countries, and there are no more than two dozen landfills left in it (before the introduction of sorting and recycling of garbage, there were more than two hundred).

In most developed European countries, the "garbage" industry is supervised by the state and regulated at the legislative level. In Germany, for example, businesses and individuals found to be careless with waste are required to pay a “pig tax” – contributions to the budget, which are then spent on the elimination of unauthorized dumps.

Note! There is a common EU-wide tank color standard: green for glass, blue for paper, yellow for cardboard, black for food waste, brown for hazardous waste like batteries, orange for plastic, and red for non-recyclable waste.

In Switzerland, the separation of waste is also enshrined in law: you need to use special containers installed near the houses, and you can get a big fine for mixed waste. Everything that is not suitable for these containers will have to be taken to a landfill on their own - access to which is opened with an electronic key card. To get a card, the Swiss pay a fee to the local administration.

Futuristic-looking containers for different types of containers, batteries, clothes, shoes, paper and plastic are installed in the Czech Republic. Most residents here have three departments in buckets (plastic, paper, mixed waste), and each house has a corresponding tank. Walking around the city, you can see glass tanks of different colors.

The closest neighbors, the Republic of Belarus, have also been practicing solid waste separation since 2009. The container system installed in Minsk made it possible to collect almost ten tons of garbage already in the first year of the program, and over the past time the figure of the annual “harvest” has increased several times. All this is sent for processing. There are collection points for batteries and light bulbs, but there are no recycling facilities for them yet.

Important! The colors of the Belarusian tanks do not match the European ones: green is for paper, yellow is for plastic, blue is for glass.

An informative video on why it is important to separate waste and what to do if there are no separate collection containers within walking distance:

The recent law means that soon we will have to separate the garbage one way or another, it is worth starting now. The state can use the experience of MSW separation in other countries, but the responsibility lies with individuals. There is nothing difficult about throwing plastic to plastic, and paper to paper.

Her vocation is to open Odessa to people in all its glory, conducting exciting excursions around the city. In addition, Sasha cares about nature and loves what surrounds her. She started sorting garbage at home two years ago and she has a lot to talk about.

So, you have embarked on the path of reasonable consumption and care for our planet. Thinking about the problems of recycling and want to contribute. In this article, you will learn what is separate garbage collection and how to organize sorting at home with examples from personal experience.

Types of recyclables

Most waste is not garbage, but recyclable materials that can be recycled. First, let's figure out what is recyclable and what is disposal.

recycle can plastic, paper, metal, glass, even car tires! They make artificial turf, for example. This is what recycling plants do.

Recycle Hazardous waste is needed, which should not be buried in landfills. This category includes household and office equipment, fluorescent lamps, mercury thermometers, expired medicines, medical waste and electronics: smartphones, flash drives, headphones, batteries, wires. These wastes contain heavy metals that poison the soil and water. And then they return to us through food. Disposal is carried out by special certified companies that do it safely.

Where to begin?

Thinking about the separate collection of garbage at home, you will encounter several questions.

How to organize space for sorting?

It seems that if you collect waste for recycling, then the whole apartment will be littered with it! In fact, it's not scary at all. I think everyone has a free corner in the kitchen, on the balcony or in the pantry. Your main ally is compactness! You can take one box and put all the recyclable waste in it, and sort it by type immediately before handing it over to the recycling center. You can have a separate bin, for example, only for dry waste. Waste paper and tetra pack when folded take up very little space, and aluminum cans are successfully flattened. In addition, special containers for sorting are on sale. You can find these at IKEA and Jysk.

What exactly to sort?

Glass. The coolest material for recycling. It can be recycled an infinite number of times. That is, from an old can or bottle, a new one will turn out without loss of quality. It turns out that glass is the only material with a full recycling cycle.

Waste paper. Paper can survive four to five cycles. After that, it becomes unusable. Important! . Moreover, it is better not to come into contact with them at all, since checks are dangerous to health. In terminals and cash registers, special thermal paper is used. It darkens when heated. The text on such paper is burned out, and not printed with paint. Thermal paper contains bisphenol-A, which becomes toxic when heated. Bisphenol-A enters the body through the skin and can cause serious illness. Try not to take checks, do not touch them, do not carry them in your pockets and purses. If there is a need for long-term storage, keep checks in a separate file.

Tetra Pak and Pure Pak made of cardboard, aluminum and polyethylene. There is a special technology for their processing. Therefore, we collect them separately from both cardboard and plastic.

Metal. These can be aluminum cans, cans and lids. Foil from yogurt and sour cream is also recycled.

Plastic. Not all types of plastic can be recycled. To understand what kind is in front of you - look at the markings. Look for a triangle with a number or letters inside.

• The most popular type of plastic PET(or PETE) bottle, marking 1, polyethylene terephthalate. It is well suited for packaging cold drinks, yoghurts. Pet should not be heated and should not be reused, as it can release phthalates that are harmful to the human body. Recycled.
• Marking 2 - HDPE or PEHT It's a tough polyethylene. It is used to make bags, containers for cosmetics, food containers. Relatively safe. Recycled.
• Marking 3 or PVC. The famous PVC It is it that is used for technical purposes: in the production of pipes, windows, laminate, containers for technical fluids. It emits phthalates, vinyl chloride, may contain impurities of heavy metals. Contraindicated for food packaging. Not accepted for processing.
• Marking 4 is thin polyethylene LDPE or PEBD. A variety of bags, bags and bags are made from it. Recyclable and reusable.
• Marking 5 or PP- polypropylene. A safe type of plastic, quite dense. It is used in the manufacture of toys, containers, household items. Recycled.
• Marking 6 or PS means polystyrene. It is used to make disposable tableware, foam trays for meat, cups for yogurt, lids for cups for drinks. This type of plastic is dangerous for humans, because when reused, it releases the toxic substance styrene. At what at any temperature! Technically, polystyrene recycling is possible, but it is almost nowhere in Ukraine do not accept. It is better to try to reduce contact with such plastic to a minimum, and ideally to refuse it altogether.
• Marking 7 or Other these are polyamide, polycarbonate and other types of plastic that have not received their own number. They don't go to recycling.

Not so long ago, an excellent mobile application Sortui appeared. It is available for iOS and Android and helps to understand the variety of materials and the intricacies of sorting.

How should it be stored?

Help here ground rules sorting: wash / dry / reduce volume. They accept clean recyclables for recycling. Yes, and it is in our interests to keep the waste clean, otherwise the unpleasant smell in the apartment is provided. The plastic needs to be rinsed, allowed to dry and wrinkled well so that it takes up a minimum of space. Bottle caps can be collected separately. They are made of more valuable plastic than bottles. Of these, you can make, for example, raw materials for 3D models.

Tetra Pak (packaging from juices, cream) and Pure Pak (kefir, milk) should be washed by straightening the corners of the pack. Cutting the packaging is not recommended. Further, as with plastic - dry and flatten. Cardboard and paper are the easiest to fold. Cardboard packaging stained with fat or food residues is not recyclable. Having adapted, you will spend half a minute on all the manipulations. It's a matter of habit.

What types of waste are not recycled?

Disposable cups should be discussed separately. Takeaway coffee cups only disguise themselves as paper cups, and they have a plastic layer inside. Without it, the glass would leak very quickly. In theory, they can be recycled using a special technology for separating these two materials. But in reality, doing this is expensive and not profitable. First of all, because of the purpose of these cups - to drink coffee on the go. After that, they are simply thrown away, instead of being carried home, washed, dried and folded. Therefore, 90% of these pseudo-paper cups end up in a landfill and poison the earth. This is indestructible garbage, it is better to switch to reusable beverage containers, such as bamboo to go glasses or stylish tumblrs.

Where to take sorted waste?

Now the environmental movement is gaining momentum, and there are more and more opportunities for sorting in cities. Of course, containers for separate waste collection are still rare, but here are a few options where you can donate recyclable waste.

Now more and more often next to the garbage cans there are nets only for plastic, and sometimes for glass. They are served by waste processing companies. If you happen to have one nearby, be sure to use it! This is very convenient because plastic and glass take up the most space and accumulate the fastest.

If it is not possible to transport recyclables to remote collection points, you can put them next to the trash can in separate transparent bags. So do glass and paper. In every city there is a reception of glass containers, cullet and waste paper, just like everywhere there are people for whom handing over recyclables is a way to earn a little. You have recyclables for recycling, they have the opportunity to deliver it to the collection point, this is a win-win 🙂

What to do with organics?

How to deal with organic waste? The most environmentally friendly way is to compost! Compost is a good fertilizer that is useful both in the garden and in the country, and indoor plants like it too. It is obtained as a result of processing by microorganisms organic materials. There are several ways to organize composting in an apartment. Each of them has its own merits.

Personal experience

My first step was to sort plastic bottles. I just started putting them apart. I had no idea what exactly I would do with them next, the main thing is not to throw them into the general heap. For eight months I collected bottles on my balcony and still could not take them to recycling. I just googled the collection points, but they were all far away on the outskirts, and I was waiting for the right moment to pick up. And I waited for the eco-route. I wrote to the organizers with a request to make a stop somewhere in my area. And in the end, the route, to my great joy, passes right in front of my house 🙂 The first time I brought three 160-liter bags of bottles (!), If you stack them one on top of the other, you get a mountain as tall as me.

The eco-route prompted me to delve into sorting more seriously. Gradually, I added new elements to this puzzle: I began to pay attention to the labeling of plastic, got the hang of washing tetra packs, compactly folding cardboard packaging from products. My husband was initially skeptical about my eco-starters, but then he got used to the new concepts and now also sets aside recyclable waste separately. Apparently he was tired of watching me take out another box from the trash can and lament “What are you, this is recyclable / we need to save the planet / plastic does not decompose / the future is in our hands” 😀 Each time sorting is easier, and at some point you start doing it automatically. What used to seem troublesome, for example, washing and drying a jar of sour cream or a bottle of kefir, now does not cause even a moment's thought. Today, the collection of recyclables at my house looks like this:

• In the kitchen, I have a separate bin just for plastic. I throw it away in special nets serviced by a recycling company. True, they are not in my area, so I take them to another one on occasion. Caps collect corny in the package. I tried to put them in a vase, but I have two funny cats who are interested in pulling them out and chasing them all over the apartment.
• For the rest, I allocated a place in the pantry. It is convenient for me to immediately lay out the waste by type. Therefore, I have a bag with waste paper, a bag with tetra packs, a bag with bags (I don’t seem to take them anywhere, but they still accumulate), a bucket with aluminum cans. I take out the glass immediately, put it next to the garbage cans.
• I'm not ready to compost organic yet, but I'll probably get there. You need to move towards changes at a comfortable pace. A year and a half ago, it was strange for me to wash the yogurt foil and put it in a specially designated place, but now my hand does not rise to throw it in the trash :)

The eco-route passes us about once a month. During this time, I manage to collect quite a lot of waste for recycling. Now I try to be more conscious in my purchases. This allows you not to buy products in non-recyclable packaging, and to produce less waste in general. I am still far from complete, but I am moving in this direction 🙂

The article was prepared by Sasha Matveecheva
Subscribe to Sasha

Our country is mired in rubbish. More than 50 million tons of waste is sent to landfills every year. And this number is growing every year. Virtually all waste in Russia ends up in landfills, contaminating the water we drink and releasing hazardous substances into the air we breathe. Every year more and more land is allocated for landfills. In some cities, as an alternative to landfills, the construction of expensive and extremely dangerous waste incinerators is proposed. They poison the air and turn relatively harmless waste into toxic ash, which also has to be landfilled. The share of waste recycling in Russia is at the level of 3-5%, which is an order of magnitude less than in European countries. For example, in Germany, 65% of waste is recycled, and in San Francisco - more than 80%.

Just a few facts about garbage:

. 100,000 marine animals and 1,000,000 birds are killed each year by mistaking plastic for food;
. 1 battery pollutes 20 square meters land, and this is the territory of one hedgehog and two moles;
. 60 kg of waste paper saves one tree;
. garbage dumps in Russia already occupy an area equal to the area of ​​Switzerland;
. if a tower with a base of 1x1 meter is built from the waste that the inhabitants of Russia throw away annually, then it will be possible to climb up to the moon;
. every year in Russia the territory for landfills increases by an area equal to Moscow and St. Petersburg combined;
. each of us throws out 400 kg of garbage a year.

What is Separate Garbage Collection?

Separate waste collection is a system in which waste is divided into several types in order to reuse them and produce new products from them at special plants. This approach significantly reduces the negative impact on the environment that would be produced by discarded garbage rotting in landfills, and also reduces the need for extraction (including non-renewable) natural resources to manufacture products from scratch. Material recycling is about saving energy and resources and preventing air and water pollution.

In most yards, garbage collection tanks now look like this

or like this

And these are containers for separate collection of garbage in Arkhangelsk.

Yellow - for plastic, glass and aluminum. Blue - for paper and cardboard. Bright colors allow them to stand out and be different from the usual ones, and pictures and inscriptions make sorting easier. At almost all sites, such containers are locked and have small (often not very convenient) openings. This is done for the purpose of anti-vandal protection.
In Severodvinsk containers for separate garbage collection look like this

or like this

In Arkhangelsk, a separate waste collection project began in November 2014. At the moment, there are more than 40 container sites in the city. You can see the addresses of sites with containers for separate waste collection at EcoMap Arkhangelsk region.

What can be recycled?

The range of waste accepted for processing in Arkhangelsk is listed below. For Severodvinsk, it is somewhat wider.

Plastic:

. PET bottles from under water, drinks + corks;
. bottles from under detergents(shampoo, household chemicals);
. packing tape;
. plastic cans;
. fruit plastic crates
Covers and labels can be left on. bottles from under vegetable oil not accepted.

Glass:

. glass bottles;
. jars (glass containers).
Bottles can not be washed, labels can not be removed. Light bulbs can be thrown away only energy-saving LED.

Metal:

. aluminum cans;
. cans.
Aerosol bottles (hairspray, air freshener) are not accepted.

Paper:

. newspapers magazines;
. books;
. carton boxes;
. office paper.
Packaging from juices and dairy products (tetra-pack) is not accepted, as it is very difficult and not economically feasible to recycle. Paper towels, napkins, paper egg containers, toilet paper rolls are also not accepted, as they are the final stages of paper recycling.

For convenience, there is such a colorful visual scheme.

Grade

1. Collect and only as pure raw materials (without food residues and fats), the type of which you can confidently determine (there is a code).
2. All debris should be compacted so that it takes up less space.

The following categories of raw materials are valuable for processing

Paper.

Cardboard, office paper, newspapers and magazines, notebooks, albums, postcards, any paper packaging, etc.

How to prepare?

tamp in flat view, put in a separate package.

• napkins
• disposable paper cups
• parchment
• paper contaminated with food, grease, liquid.

Attention! Tetra Pak type packaging belongs to the "plastic" category!

Metal.

Aluminum and cans, metal lids.

How to prepare?

Rinse cans. Compact aluminum cans as much as possible. Put everything metal in a separate bag.

Glass.

Whole and broken bottles. From under drinks, medicines, cosmetics.

How to prepare?

Rinse bottles from drinks, drain water, put in a separate bag, tie.

Not recyclable:

heat-resistant and impact-resistant glass.

Plastic box.

How to prepare?

Pay attention to the label - on the package, in the form of a triangle with a number (from 1 to 7) and / or letters:

• PET or PETE
• HDPE or PEHD
• LDPE or PE or PELD

Not subject to acceptance and processing:

If there is no marking (recycling code) on the packaging, throw such packaging into general waste.

Resource-valued waste, interesting for recycling, are the following types of packaging:

It is worth rinsing the packaging from under dairy products, juices and compacting it so that it becomes flat.

The organization "Ukraine without Smitya" also accepts certain types hazardous waste - batteries (should be placed in a PET bottle with a cap).

Attention! If the bottle has a dispenser or an aerator with a metal spring and a straw, the dispenser is not recyclable, so please unscrew it first and throw it in the general trash.

1. Submit to the organization "Ukraine without a smile" for sorting only those raw materials, the category of which you can determine (you know for sure that this or that plastic belongs to a certain category or you have found the corresponding marking on the product itself) and can be divided into the following fractions:
2. PET (PET or "1" in a triangle), bottles of sugary drinks, water, beer, PET labeled dairy bottles, some household chemical bottles, usually clear in color, and the like.
   Attention! If the bottle has a dispenser or an aerator with a metal spring and a straw, then the dispenser is not recyclable. Please unscrew and throw it in the general trash.
3. Polyethylene in film form (HPDE, LDPE or "2" or "4" in a triangle). Disposable bags, large bags from supermarkets, stretch film, bubble wrap for packaging, milk bags, kefir bags, baguette bags and the like. Attention! Packages from "Nova Poshta" are not subject to processing due to the content of chalk in them.
4. Polyethylene in the form of bottles (HPDE (2) and PE (4) with the corresponding number in the triangle). Bottles of household chemicals, some packaging from under dairy products. Attention! If the bottle has a dispenser or an aerator with a metal spring and a straw, the dispenser is not recyclable, so please unscrew it first and throw it in the general trash.
5. Polypropylene (PP or "5" in a triangle). Multiple containers (containers, buckets), disposable buckets in supermarkets that look like a cup, disposable transparent cups, sometimes containers with household chemicals, other products that have the designation PP.
6. Polystyrene (PS or 6 in a triangle). Jars of some dairy products, disposable containers from supermarkets (sometimes such containers can be with PET or PP polypropylene), and other products that bear the PS marking.
7. Metal. Aluminum and cans, metal lids, and the like.
8. Paper: cardboard, office paper, paper packaging, etc. are not recyclable. Plus checks, napkins, disposable paper cups, parchment, paper contaminated with food, grease, liquid. Attention! Tetra Pak must be sorted into a bag!
9. Tetra Pak, Elo-pak and others - juices, dairy products. Attention! The lid and neck do not need to be torn out of it, but can be left on the package. Seal the bag so that it looks flat.
10. Sort the caps from the packaging of dairy products and PET bottles into a bag.
11. Hazardous waste - batteries (should be placed in a PET bottle with a cap). Attention!

If you have any questions, or would like to take part in an offline/online waste sorting workshop, please send an email with the subject "sorting" to [email protected]

Remember! In fact, sorting garbage is a matter of habit, and only at first seems to be something burdensome. It takes literally a week to check everything thrown into the trash and the system will start working. For inspiration, examples on the organization of the garbage issue in kitchen walls countries where waste sorting is commonplace.