New bins at Centraal get a slot for deposit bottles

The city is replacing rubbish bins with a new design that has a separate compartment for deposit bottles and cans. The IJ side of Amsterdam Centraal went first, on Monday 28 September, when the first few bins were placed on the IJboulevard behind the station.

In total, 25 new bins are going in around Centraal this week.

A compartment for deposit collectors

The compartment is at the top of the bin. People can drop bottles and cans in, and collectors can take them out.

Collectors sometimes break bins open and dig through them looking for bottles and cans, which leaves other rubbish on the street. The city puts the cost of cleaning this up at a minimum of €11 million a year, and hopes the new compartment will mean fewer bins are forced open.

The bins also have a stronger interior with a spring, so the bag does not hang out, and magnets that should stop the doors from opening by themselves.

Seven busy locations by the end of October

Earlier this year the city announced new bins for several hotspots, which are busy places with a lot of litter: Centraal Station, Kinkerstraat, the Noord/Johan van Hasseltweg station, Museumplein, Amsterdamse Poort, Osdorpplein and the Oostpoort shopping centre.

The bins were meant to go in before the summer, but the order was placed so late that the first ones have only just arrived. Bins at the other hotspots will be replaced in the coming weeks, and by the end of October there should be 200 new bins across all seven locations.

Plans to replace 8,000 of 11,000 bins

The city tested the bin extensively with Verpact, which handles packaging recycling on behalf of businesses. If the streets get cleaner, the city plans to replace more bins.

In total it expects to replace 8,000 of its 11,000 litter bins.

For more on what goes where, read our guide to waste and recycling in Amsterdam.

Source: AD