Collection of organic kitchen waste

In cooperation with KOSIT, the city of Košice will start collecting kitchen waste from all households in the city in January 2023.

Find a day to collect waste from your home by street

How the system works for residents of detached houses

Households in single-family homes received their own collection container, a 30 litre brown bucket labelled "Kitchen Organic Waste" and a set of bags = 25 pieces, free of charge at their doorstep.
Delivered bags are the only bags that are allowed to be used during collection. Their purpose is to protect the container from contamination.
Residents are to put their kitchen's organic waste into the bin loosely, without the use of any additional bags or sacks.

At each collection, the bagged waste is taken away and the empty container is returned to the household for reuse.
The resident puts a new bag from the free delivery kit into the empty bin. The container is then ready for the next use.
KOSIT provides waste collection and collection for further recovery 1 x per week.
Collection takes place between 6:00 and 18:00.

How the system works for apartment building residents

At the beginning of January 2023, a new collection container / containers of brown colour marked Kitchen ORGANIC WASTE were added to the container sites at the apartment buildings.
Each brown collection container is fitted with a black bag. These bags are the only ones allowed for use during collection. Their purpose is to protect the container from contamination.

Residents are to put their organic waste from the kitchen into the container freely, without the use of any additional bags or sacks.
At each collection, the waste in the bag is taken away, a new bag is placed in the container and the container is ready for the next use.
KOSIT provides emptying of brown bins and waste collection for further recovery 2 times a week

Frequently Asked Questions

How often is kitchen waste collected?

The bins at the apartment buildings are emptied twice a week. After each emptying a new 240 litre bag is placed in the bin. Buckets from houses are emptied once a week.

Should waste be placed in the collection container in compostable bags?

Before the launch of the collection of kitchen organic waste in Košice, a pilot project was running from July 2021, which included compostable bags. These were causing the biggest nuisance. When stored incorrectly, they got wet, they tore, the wet waste decomposed them and they just tore again. After the compostable bags, which were given free of charge to the inhabitants of the pilot site, were used up, a discussion was opened on their quite high purchase value and the reluctance to invest in this item from the domestic budget. The conclusion is that the bags do not enter the collection system in Košice. None. People have enough to get used to, so this rule has been set clearly to avoid doubts and devaluation of the collected waste.

Will there be a free container delivered to our kitchen?

During the aforementioned pilot project, which ran from July 2021, 10 litre brown buckets for the kitchen were also delivered to households. Amongst the responses from residents, there were those for whom the size/colour/material of the bucket delivered did not suit either due to space or individual kitchen image. The choice of a suitable bin, as with the communal waste bin or household waste segregation bins, is left to each household's own discretion.

Why do residents of detached houses get their own brown bucket for collection and people in blocks of flats don't?

For households in blocks of flats, there is a common brown collection container with a capacity of 240 litres available for other containers in the site next to the block of flats. Waste will be collected from here twice a week.

Households in family houses do not have common sites and therefore it is necessary to provide them with their own collection containers - 30 litre brown buckets, from which KOSIT will regularly remove the waste once a week.

Is there a specific smell around the BIO waste collection containers?

It is important to remember that biodegradable waste was produced by households even before the introduction of separate collection. This was deposited at home in conventional bins in the kitchen and in black mixed municipal waste bins in front of the apartment/house. In the new scenario, the same waste is placed in a separate bin for bio-waste collection. With sufficient frequency of collection and provided the bins are closed with lids after use, the odour should not be significant.

Do paper napkins or toilet paper rolls belong in the brown bin?

Kitchen waste collection differs in its rules from conventional composting. Neither napkins nor toilet paper rolls belong in the brown bins. They are exclusively for collecting biodegradable kitchen waste.

Can I also put edible fat, for example after frying, in the BIO waste container?

In Košice, edible oils and fats can be collected separately in resealable plastic bottles and then thrown into orange black containers placed in selected container sites or in partner food stores. Dozens of schools in Košice have also joined this collection, where it is possible to use a collection container on the premises. For those who do not prefer separate collection, used edible oils and fats are allowed to be deposited freely in collection containers. We assume that if someone does not collect the oil or edible fat separately, they will not pour a larger quantity into the container at one time. It is important that this waste does not end up in the sewer.

Where is the waste taken after collection?

The material from the collection of kitchen waste from households of Košice residents is energy and material recovered in a biogas plant. The biogas plant of the company Eko-Salmo Plus, s.r.o. near the village of Kokšov-Bakša is built for the purpose of collection and recovery of biodegradable waste by means of production and use of biogas for the production of electricity. Biodegradable waste represents a valuable source for the production of alternative energy and organic fertiliser (digestate).

What are the most commonly observed sorting errors?

Refusal to sort. This may be due to ignorance, reluctance or unwillingness to accept discomfort.
We put kitchen waste in plastic bags or throw it away with the packaging.
Bio-waste from the kitchen is not sorted thoroughly and so we put it into brown bins contaminated with plastic, glass, paper or mixed municipal waste.

The only other fault is that the containers remain open after use. It is very important to always close the lid of the container properly after inserting the waste.