For a few months now, the people of Moka have access to new public bins for efficient waste recycling. However, missorting remains common: here is THE right way to sort waste!
Moka Smart City is strongly concerned with sustainable development and is trying to encourage residents of Moka to adopt new eco-friendly gestures – such as waste sorting. This socially responsible programme offers a second lease of life to waste and preserves natural resources while also reducing reliance on the island’s (almost saturated) landfill at Mare Chicose.
In October 2020, the Finnish brand, Molok’s recycling containers were installed in the four main areas of the city: at the entrance to Vivéa Business Park; in front of Synergy Sport & Wellness Institute in Helvetia; in front of the Shell filling station in Telfair; and in the residential neighbourhood of Courchamps (click here to locate them on a map). Since the implementation of these sorting solutions, 76m³ of waste have already been collected!
The only downside is that about 16% of them (12m³) have nonetheless been put into landfill due to missorting. Putting waste in the wrong sorting bin – or throwing away non-recyclable materials – contaminates the containers. In addition, some users do not care about leaving bags full of trash without sorting them if the containers are almost full, instead of going to another nearby recycling location. With everyone’s contribution, 100% of the waste could easily be recycled!
How to sort your waste properly?
Blue, yellow, green or grey: the use of colour codes and explanatory signs available at the recycling sites will make it easy to sort your waste!
Each recycling point has three bins for sorting:
- Paper & cardboard (blue bin): magazines and newspapers, directories and books, paper, envelopes, cardboard and packaging, egg and cereal packaging, cigarette packages, etc.
- Plastic & aluminium (yellow bin): water and soft drink bottles, plastic bags and caps, laundry detergent bottles, plastic toys, soda cans, tins, etc.
- Glass (green tray): glass bottles, glass pots and jars, perfume bottles, etc.
In case of doubt, a grey bin is also available on site for non-recyclables.
Stop missorting!
Sometimes household waste or non-recyclables still end up in the sorting containers, thus reducing the recyclability of other materials. Common sorting errors are:
- Items soiled by food (pizza boxes, yoghurt cups, fruit trays, etc.)
- Unwashed PET bottles (drink leftovers in the bottles, etc.)
- Dirty or wet waste (materials covered with dirt, wet cardboard, etc.)
- Non-recyclables (polystyrene take-away containers, plastic or metal packaging, plastic utensils, milk cartons, rubbish or freezer bags, mirrors and window panes, plates, table glasses, light bulbs, screens, paper towels and tissues, etc.)
In case of doubt, check the on-site information sign, take a look at our online explanatory videos or place your waste in the grey household waste bin (located near the sorting containers).
Together, let’s take the right steps to improve recycling!
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