Skopje swaps its bins: around 200 of 3,300 new ones in place, and 880 cubic metres of dumped bulky and construction waste collected in a single week

The public utility "Komunalna Higiena" has started installing its newly purchased municipal waste bins. Around 200 have been replaced so far, and installation continues through this week. A total of 3,300 new bins are to be put in place, and every spot where they will go has been mapped, says Mayor Orce Gjorgjievski. The city calls the purchase the biggest in its history, and new rubbish trucks are due to arrive soon as well.

While the new bins arrive, old habits stay put. In the past week alone, "Komunalna Higiena" crews removed 880 cubic metres of illegally dumped bulky and construction waste from public areas and roads in all of Skopje's municipalities. The most, 205 cubic metres from illegal dumps, was in the Municipality of Centar. That same week, 3,300 tonnes of municipal waste were also collected from households and businesses.

The solution isn't in the bin

Skopje residents welcome the replacement, especially the removal of bins from the bike lanes along Partizanska. But the demands heard on the street and on social media go further: a municipal inspectorate that hands out fines, and video surveillance by the new bins so they don't get damaged and vandalised.

"Until a municipal inspectorate is set up that issues fines, they'll keep dumping rubbish," says one Skopje resident. It's hard to argue with him. The bulky and construction waste on the streets wasn't thrown there by a bin - it was thrown there by people.

The new bins are welcome. But without an inspector writing fines, the new containers risk becoming just new addresses for bulky waste. Will the city set up the municipal inspectorate its residents are asking for?