Why is waste sorting important?
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It cuts the amount of waste ending up in the dump and limits the use of raw materials needed to manufacture new products.
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It is a duty towards our children.
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It protects the environment and reduces the environmental impact of waste bound to dumps or incinerators.
Waste sorting has become part of our daily life; it just takes a bit of organization, even if we have little space, to make waste sorting a good habit.
But too many are still not fully aware of its many direct and indirect advantages.
Separating your waste into different bins has advantages and benefits.
If you properly sort your waste you protect the environment (as you cut pollution) and your community (the roads will be cleaner for the sake of public health).
These positive effects also translate into economic advantages.
First of all, the saving on disposal costs, enhanced efficiency during waste collection operations and greater use of recycled materials.
HOW TO MAKE WASTE SORTING SIMPLE AND EFFECTIVE
OMR have decided to meet an ever urgent need: increasing safety while reducing risks.
Nowadays, waste protection systems are expensive and inconvenient for both the citizens and the waste management companies.
Thanks to the gravity waste bin lock by OMR for 2-4 wheeled dust bins, waste sorting is easier, more effective and prevents fines due to rude behaviour (for example: strangers throwing paper into your plastic bin).
OMR GRAVITY LOCK FOR WASTE BINS: THE ADVANTAGES
Thanks to the protective surface treatments, our automatic locks are resistant to the waste corrosive action (for example the contact with carbonated soft drinks or drugs).
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Easy to install thanks to the drilling and fixing jig.
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Suitable for any type of dust-bin (120, 240, 360 and 1100 lt)
REVERSIBLE KEY WITH KEY CODING FROM 2001 TO 2200 AND MASTER KEY SYSTEM
TRIANGULAR BUDGET KEY WITH AUTOMATIC SPRING RETURN (SLAMLOCK SYSTEM)
Waste sorting: how to and benefits
Waste sorting has become part of our daily life; it just takes a bit of organization, even if we have little space, to make waste sorting a good habit and bring endless advantages.
After a slow start throughout Europe, waste sorting has dramatically gained ground over the last few years, with numerous municipalities from North to South standing out for their environmental awareness.
Why sorting waste?
First of all it is a duty towards our children: the health of the planet is also ours.
Sort your waste correctly, following the 4R rule (reduction, re-use, recycling and recovery). For the sake of the environment and the community!
Below the main advantages:
It reduces the amount of waste dumped in the landfill and limits the use of raw materials needed to manufacture of new products, thus saving our planet’s natural resources. An example? Each of us produces about 35 kg of plastic waste each year: if this plastic was recycled, almost 12,000 tons of oil and coal would be saved in a town of 100,000 people!
It protects the environment and cuts the environmental impact of waste otherwise bound to the dump or incinerators, which by the way are no longer sufficient to dispose of the ever-increasing load of waste we produce. Have you ever tried to think of the amount of waste we produce? These figures will leave you speechless: it is estimated that each one of us produces 1.2 kg of waste a day and about 450 kg a year!
It prevents health risks. For example, drugs, if not properly sorted and disposed of, can give rise to toxic emissions in the landfill and pollute the leachate; furthermore, the presence of antibiotics in waste can foster the selection of antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains.
It allows a considerable economic saving. Just think that to produce a ton of virgin paper 15 trees, 440,000 liters of water and 7,600 Kwh of electricity are needed: to produce a ton of recycled paper, 1,800 liters of water and 2,700 Kwh of electricity are enough.
How to easily and effectively sort waste?
Each one of us has the duty to cut the overexploitation of resources and pollution by sorting waste properly and also reducing the amount of waste produced. Buying products on tap or loose food, preferring glass to plastic in order to re-use the packaging are virtuous attitudes that, if combined with the habit of recycling, can produce visible changes and partially reverse the destiny of a planet in pain due to rising temperatures and climate change.
In the municipalities, special colour coded bins (yellow, green, white, brown, red and even fuchsia) help to promote waste sorting.
How to properly sort waste?
Paper and cardboard bin
Newspapers, books, packaging, paper boxes, cardboard and advertising material.
Laminated paper or used tissues are not allowed.
Break down cardboard boxes to reduce the volume.
Glass bin
Bottles, glasses, vases and jars.
Do not put ceramics, porcelain, mirrors and light bulbs.
It should be delivered loose without a bag and possibly without any label.
Plastic bin
Water and soft drink bottles, bottles of detergents, shampoos, liquid soaps and other house cleaning products and personal hygiene products, packaging, trays, plastic or polystyrene containers for eggs, food and miscellaneous items, yogurt jars, bags and shopping bags, cling film, straps, cellophane, bags for garments packaging, fruit and vegetables crates.
Plastic toys, plastic electronics or bulky objects are not allowed.
Organic waste bin
Food waste, kitchen waste, garden waste, dried flowers and plants.
Organic waste means everything that can end up in the composter.
General waste bin
Toys, used tissues or printed tissues, cream tubes, sanitary napkins, clothes hangers, bulky plastic objects.
All non-recyclable materials go into general waste.
Unused / Expired drugs
Special receptacles are available in drugstores or hospitals.
Remove drugs from their packaging, which can be recycled in paper containers.
Old batteries
Proper containers are available in supermarkets and electronic stores.
Do not throw the batteries in the general waste bins, nor abandon them in the environment, they are highly polluting.
When you buy new batteries, take the old ones with you and leave them in the store.
How is waste collection carried out?
Waste collection is performed differently from country to country and sometimes from municipality to municipality.
On the whole municipal territory, for example, waste collection bins (paper, plastic, general, organic waste, etc.) or glass bells can be located along the road or, more in general, in public land.
Or a door-to-door (aka kerbside or curbside) collection system can be implemented in which the household bags and / or containers are collected or emptied by the curb. The curbside collection is connected with a widespread network of collection centers, available to any household, business and commercial activity, where any kind of urban waste is collected which, due to its type or size, is not suitable for kerbside collection.
A dust bin lock to support curbside collection
The 2 or 4-wheeled waste bins placed on the public land pose some challenges in terms of public safety and waste collection management, which can be solved by installing an ecological gravity lock.
protection of bins from unauthorized access, preserving citizens and commercial activities from fines for improper waste sorting due to wrongful behaviour (for example, a passer-by throwing a plastic bottle into your paper container)
collection operations carried out without changes to the normal emptying procedures thanks to automatic gravitational opening while tilting the dust bin
Environment and health risks protection caused by drugs and hazardous substances (the access to the container is possible solely through a reversible key or a triangular key)
Protection of public safety from potential weapons (for example glass bottles)
The OMR automatic gravity lock for waste bins can be easily installed on any wheeled bin with 2 (120, 240 and 360 Lt) or 4 wheels (660, 1100 Lt) thanks to the special drilling jig and simple video tutorials available online on our YouTube channel.
Thanks to the protective surface treatments, our gravity locks are highly resistant to the corrosive action of waste (for example, the contact with soft drinks or drugs)
The special design allows the waste to easily slide over the lock body during the emptying operations.
The lock, available in over 200 combinations, is stainless steel-coated and equipped with a dust cover for outdoor use and enhanced weather resistance.
The OMR gravity automatic lock for dust bins also allows considerable saving in the bins management, both for users and waste collection companies.
The current security systems for waste bins are indeed expensive and inconvenient
The erection of fences in which waste collection bins are placed; besides the additional costs, fences further limit public space