Usurbil
INHABITANTS
6.223
AREA
24,9 km²
SECTOR
Industry
WASTE DATA
78,78 Kg
Amount of non-recyclable waste generated per inhabitant per year.
84,77 %
Selective collection
17 %
Percentage of organic waste directly composted by inhabitants.
PREVENTION
Reusable shopping bags have been distributed to local resident
Reusable tupperware has been distributed to local residents.
Coffee cups have been distributed among the town’s employees for use in coffee machines.
To avoid single-use trash bags, new reusable bags have been distributed to facilitate the door-to-door waste removal service: yellow ones for plastics, blue ones for paper and cardboard.
ORGANIC WASTE
Organic waste is processed at public compost locations set up within town limits, as well as at smaller individual composters placed near the residences that have vegetable patches and gardens. The image above shows a public composting area located in one of the town’s neighbourhoods.
Organic waste is also removed via door-to-door service. The photograph shows a pole with a hook where an organic wastebasket is placed for pick-up by the service provider.
Some of the door-to-door collection of organic waste is handled by the local farmers. The compost it generates is used to fertilise their land.
DOOR-TO-DOOR PICK UP SYSTEM
Within town limits, unsegregated waste, the organic fraction, plastics, and paper are picked up door-to-door. It was, in fact, in Usurbil where clearly identifiable poles for the door-to-door waste pick-up service were conceived and installed, so as not to leave trash on the ground. This is a much cleaner and more organised way to remove waste.
In the surrounding rural area, small recycling cabins are placed for collecting and segregating all types of waste.
VÍDRIO, PILAS, ROPA, ACEITE…
All these waste fractions are collected in containers placed for this purpose within town limits. Moreover, special containers for collecting small objects, which must be taken to recycling centres, are available.
SHOPPING CENTRE MANAGEMENT
Usurbil has one of the largest shopping centres in the province of Gipuzkoa. It features 64 shops, 11 restaurants and 8 cinemas. All the waste produced in the shopping centre is removed via door-to-door service.
URBAN TRASH CANS
All the trash cans in Usurbil are designed to differentiate waste.
RESIDENTS’ PARTICIPATION
A number of meetings with local residents were organised before the implementation of the door-to-door waste removal system to inform the residents and let them take part in this process.
WASTE REMOVAL FEE DEPENDING ON CREATION
The waste removal fee includes a fixed and a variable component, which means that the fee may be higher or lower depending on the frequency of unsegregated waste removal. The photograph shows a waste collector labelling an unsegregated waste container.
CAMPAIGNS
Used cooking oil collection campaign.
Trash littering awareness campaign.
PUBLIC ENTERPRISE
Usurbil’s Town Hall is part of the Garbitania public enterprise which is in charge of the selective waste removal from its municipality.
EXPANDING THE MODEL OF USURBIL
