Paper and glass make up most of our waste

Luxembourg City collected a whopping 63,068 tonnes of waste in the capital last year, equivalent to 0.6 tonnes per resident.

One could conclude that the majority came from businesses in the capital, as just under a third of all waste concerned paper and a fifth was glass.

Less than a tenth of the waste collected was biodegradable and 7 percent was construction waste. Of all the rubbish collected by the capital, just under half (24,480 tonnes) was either recycled, upgraded, composted or treated in order to be reused.

Luxembourg City has increased efforts to encourage people to use recycling bins in the capital, particularly during major events such as the Schueberfouer, Christmas market and Octave.

These efforts are clearly bearing fruit as from the 2014 Schueberfouer alone, the City collected 28.69 tonnes of glass, 13.94 tonnes of paper and cardboard and 9 tonnes of biodegradable waste.

The capital's hygiene department has set itself a target to recycle half of all waste by 2020.

The service is expected to expand in the coming years by eventually accepting a wider range of waste products in the blue bin bags, for exmaple paints, oils, and CDs.

Another change expected in future will be the introduction of identification checks for people wishing to use the recycling centre on Route d'Arlon, so that it is used only by residents of the capital and Strassen.

This is currently the case for around 670 companies which regularly use the site.

Meanwhile, a new recycling centre is expected to open in Merl to replace the route d'Arlon site, which is to be redeveloped for housing.

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