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Littering causes damage to the environment, makes urban areas less pleasant and healthy, and has a negative impact on the cityscape. In addition, littering costs the city more than EUR 14 million per year. We can all make a difference in the comfort of our surroundings by taking our own waste to a recycling point.
Placement of litter bins
When placing litter bins in the urban environment, we aim for a network of bins. This means that the placement of bins takes into account existing bins along main access routes, squares, seating areas and functional areas, the distances between the bins, and the size of the bins.
The exact placement and size of bins can be easily changed during the planning stage of parks and streets. At this point, we examine people’s direction of travel, traffic junctions and the location of seating areas. At other times, we add and remove bins on the basis of feedback and wishes, as well as based on the views of the employees responsible for maintenance.
The placement and size of bins are also influenced by the manner in which the bins are emptied. Smaller bins can be emptied by hand, while heavier equipment is usually needed for large bins. The width and carrying capacity of the routes required by dustcarts must be taken into account in the placement of large bins and other bins that need to be emptied with a hoist. In addition, large bins need to be installed at a depth of more than 1.5 metres below ground level, which limits the places in which they can be placed in an urban environment.
Litter bins on the map
The city is responsible for emptying nearly 8,000 litter bins around the city. If one is full, please put your litter in the next one.
Property waste management
Helsinki Region Environmental Services HSY is responsible for the waste management of properties. Read more about the services under Waste and recycling on the HSY website(Link leads to external service).
Litter management programme
The objective of the litter management programme is to bring together best ideas on practical measures to curb littering, to address the increasing volume of litter and the related harm to the environment and health, to raise awareness of the littering problem, and to steer the measures to curb littering.
Read more about the measures to curb littering on the website Litter-free Helsinki(Link leads to external service).