Fourteen new red-and-white containers serving for collection of small waste electrical and electronic equipment were installed in Zvolen in February. Zvolen is the 20th Slovak town where such containers were placed.

The main task of such containers is to create a comfortable system for collection of small electrical appliances such as blenders, mobile phones, hair driers, etc. which have become unnecessary waste in households. The containers located near houses are an ideal place where citizens may put electrical appliances which they do not want to take to remote collection yards or to wait for mobile collection. “We in Zvolen have a proactive approach to environmental protection and correct waste separation.  That is why we welcome every new way of keeping the town cleaner. We think that containers for waste electrical and electronic equipment have a great advantage that they are constantly open and thus motivate people to sort, compared to remote collection yards,” said the Mayor of Zvolen, Lenka Balkovičová.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment and used batteries contain substances which, when mishandled, may pollute the environment so they do not belong in mixed waste but in a separate collection. “The red-and-white containers have been in Slovakia since 2016; 132 of them are in use at the moment and they cover 400,000 people,” said Ronald Blaho, ASEKOL SK´s executive officer. “They have helped us collect almost 50,000 kilograms of small electrical appliances and batteries.”

Red-and-white containers operated by ASEKOL SK, a producer responsibility organization, create a unique network which enables Slovakia to increase the degree of recycling waste electrical and electronic equipment.

This video shows how red-and-white containers work:

https://youtu.be/ZVJ-_Eq-ghE