Waste sorting at Blue Flag beaches in North Zealand

Waste sorting is now stylish, colorful and easy to figure out at five Blue Flag beaches in Helsingør Municipality. Nordsjællands Park & Vej chose the R STABIL litter bin from HITSA. The design has been adapted to the needs of the operating company in close collaboration with HITSA.

The colours are the first thing that catches your eye when you see the bins. From light green for glass to purple for plastic, they have been painted to indicate the waste fraction that goes into them. The colours are also visible behind the wooden slats covering the bins. Pictograms on the front and lid make it extra clear which type of waste goes in which bin.

Lisette Kornum, a planner at Nordsjællands Park & Vej, was the project manager, and it was her idea to paint the bins to indicate the fractions.

“It was a bold choice, so I was a little nervous to see how the public would react. But the feedback has been nothing but positive. People think the litter bins look really nice, which is also positive for sorting,” she says.

“If we want waste sorting in public spaces to be successful, it’s important to make it appealing and easy to use. It must be quite clear which fraction goes in which container,” she continues.

Inside the litter bins are transparent bags, so that employees dealing with waste management can see the waste and sort it correctly when they return to base.

Sorting requirements for Blue Flag beaches

All Blue Flag beaches are required to have facilities for sorting waste into four fractions. When Nordsjællands Park & Vej took over the task of waste management at the five beaches in Helsingør Municipality, they also had to decide which four fractions the litter bins should be divided into.

“Residual waste is mandatory, so we had three additional fractions to consider. Typically, sorting paper and food waste doesn’t work in urban spaces. There is no longer the same amount of paper in public spaces, partly because the number of free newspapers has decreased. Similarly, if someone is left with half a tortilla wrap in tinfoil or salad in a plastic box, both food and packaging get tossed in the food waste. With that in mind, we opted for glass, plastic and metal. It’s easier for people to figure out, and the need for these fractions is there,” says Lisette.

R STABIL was chosen because of its design.

“It’s easy for our employees to empty. We wanted side openings, so that you can throw waste into the bin without touching it. We also wanted wood because it fits well with natural locations. And the possibility to communicate using colour was also part of it,” she says.

Good collaboration in developing litter bin

The scope for adapting and further developing the bin also played a role in the choice of R STABIL.

“We threw a ball into the air, and HITSA caught it in a way that created a unique product. It’s very positive that the company is open to such a process,” says Lisette.

For HITSA, the project has been exciting and inspiring.

“We take our hats off to a great idea from Nordsjællands Park & Vej and the courage to implement it. We were very excited to see how the litter bins would look in so many colours, and we feel the results are incredible. Now we hope that employees and the public will be just as happy with the litter bins,” says Heini Hansen, Regional Sales Manager at HITSA.

The R STABIL litter bin is a classic outdoor litter bin clad with waste wood from HITSA’s production activities to reduce resource consumption.

See all our litter bins for parks and streets