A big change is taking place in many municipalities this year: people have to start collecting bio-waste generated at home separately – this is also the case in Tallinn, for example, where this obligation applies from April 1.
- Bio-waste is a highly recyclable material – if you collect bio-waste separately, 100% of it will be recycled.
- If bio-waste is placed in a mixed household waste container, it will be incinerated or landfilled, where methane, one of the gases that cause the greenhouse effect, is released during decomposition.
- By sorting bio-waste separately from domestic waste, it is possible to make mixed household waste recyclable as materials in a larger volume. Today, with 30% bio-waste in our municipal waste, recycling of municipal waste is excluded.
- Biogas can be produced from biowaste, which can be used to generate electricity, heat households or fuel cars.
- Bio-waste can be used to produce digestate, which is used as agricultural fertilizer.
- Therefore, by collecting biowaste separately, you can contribute to Estonia’s security, produce and use more and more biomethane instead of natural gas, and replace artificial agricultural fertilizers produced somewhere far away with digestate produced from food waste.
- The waste law obliges to collect bio-waste separately: local governments must organize the separate collection of bio-waste at the point of origin or recycling at the point of origin from the newly organized waste transport procurement, but no later than December 31, 2023.
Why not compost yourself?
Composting is easy, but it’s also good to read about it in more detail, how to make a composter yourself, how to contribute to composting yourself, etc. – this way you can get a higher quality soil conditioner. However, if there is more waste and there is actually no room for composting it, you should still order a separate bio-waste container so that the valuable stuff gets mixed with household waste and does not go to waste!
Composting also has disadvantages – for example, it wastes an energy resource, i.e. gas. Composting can also cause a smell – make sure to choose the right place for the composter! Also, in the case of a small household, there may eventually be problems finding a use for the compost.
How to collect bio-waste?
- When collecting bio-waste at home, use a separate bucket or other special container. Some buckets have, for example, an air filter. You can put a paper bag in the bucket, some household paper in the bottom, or an egg carton instead – it catches a smaller amount of liquid and then breaks down with the waste.
- If possible, put waste in your bucket in bulk, it is also suitable to give away waste in a paper bag or wrapped in paper. Do not use plastic bags.
- Don’t worry about the smell – for example, plant bio-waste can stay in the room for 3-4 days without any smell. If meat gets into your waste, the smell may develop faster, but then take the bucket to the biodegradable waste container as well! However, the odor problem also arises when animal waste is thrown into the mixed household waste container.
- In order to maintain cleanliness in the container used for transferring biodegradable waste to the waste transporter, it is recommended to equip the container with a lining bag after each emptying. Installation of the lining bag can be ordered from the carrier.
Which waste can be collected in the Biodegradable waste container:
- bakery products, coffee and tea grounds, food waste, such as meat and fish waste, vegetables and fruits (including peel residues), bread, bread, semi-finished products, cheese, butter and margarine and other solid food waste, such as household paper, paper napkins, paper filters, indoor plants and cut flowers .
DOES NOT FIT container
- Standard plastic bags, food packaging, metal packaging, wooden packaging, glass and glass packaging
- Large amounts of liquid waste (which may leak during transport or break the container)
- Large bones and eggshells
- Textile and leather
- Cat litter, ash, cigarette butts
- Soil and stones
- Paper bags with a coated or waxed surface or with a film window
- Baking paper
- Old medicines and other hazardous waste
- Diapers, sanitary napkins
- Vacuum bags
- Artificial flowers, candles
- Flower and salad pots
- Decayed brown leaves and tree branches, landscaping waste