Dealing With Trash

Aweh, guys!

Since we moved into our new flat, we have been dealing with a slightly sensitive matter in the form of a giant hive of cardboard in our living room. As we have emigrated from South Africa with no furniture to our names, we had to buy a lot of stuff which has naturally led to a lot of paper waste from boxes. The kittos love it, but mama not so much… so naturally we need to get rid of it. But it hasn’t been easy.

Your authority is not recognised in Fort Kickass

The problem is, when we moved into the flat, we didn’t receive an afvalpas and only homes with yards get municipal waste bins. We need an afvalpas to activate the kliko system which is a public bin that can only be accessed with the pass which opens the drum. People with municipal waste bins pay a fee for collection and the kliko user pay per swipe.

The kliko bin uses the afval pas to open

We did a little investigation and realised that we would need to register with the gemeente first to get our DigiID (digital ID) to be able to order one. Luckily, our landlord owns the shop downstairs and I popped down to chat with him about it and he said he would gladly order one for us and we could use his pass in the meanwhile. I’m sure he wanted us to manage our waste correctly as much as we did because incorrect waste management is a health hazard.

A great thing is that a lot of waste in the Netherlands is recyclable. Things like plastic, glass, donated textiles and paper are free to dispose of at any collection point usually located at shopping centers. Ours is at Albert Heijn. This is a crucial point as the more you recycle, the less trips you make to the kliko which saves you money… oh yeah, and it’s good for the environment!

Plastic recycling

Glass recycling

Textile donation

There is also the afval app (AfvalWijzer) which can tell you about drop off points and the calendar for the municipal waste bins (think Pikitup). We are still a little unsure about whether certain things can be recycled (usually plastics can be confusing) but a lot of products do indicate where they should be disposed. At this point when in doubt, I throw it out… into restafval. This includes things like veggie scraps, chip packets and food soiled containers that can’t be rinsed out.

It has been a bit of a learning curve, but it certainly has been gratifying to do our bit for the environment. We still need to get rid of our boxes, but since it’s such a large amount we will be going directly to the dump instead. It’s not glamourous, but think of the alternative.