Changes in sanitation in Bihor: Residual waste and…

Starting next month, sanitation companies will arrive less often on the streets of Bihor.

Ecolect, the association of all town halls in the county on sanitation issues, decided to reduce the frequency of picking up residual and recyclable waste from the countryside. The measure was imposed in order not to increase sanitation bills, explained the president of Ecolect, Mircea Mălan, on Wednesday, in a press conference.

“The integrated waste management system must be constantly adapted to the realities, both legislative ones, including European ones, and concrete ones”, declared Mălan.

He stated that the adjustments regarding the lifting frequencies apply only in the rural areas of areas 3 (Salonta), 4 (Beiuș), 5 (Marghita) and 6 (Săcueni). Here, from now on, residual waste will be collected twice a month, and not weekly, as is currently the case, glass waste (the green bin) once every three months instead of once a month, and those recyclables will be collected monthly, instead of bimonthly.

And in zone 2 (Alesd) the frequencies change, but differently: residual waste will be collected three times a month, bottles quarterly, and recyclables monthly.

On the other hand, in area 1B (Oradea Metropolitan Area), the waste will be picked up according to the same frequencies, the explanation being that it is a suburban area, where the inhabitants have consumption habits similar to the townspeople, but also small yards, so less places available for waste storage long-term.

On the other hand, a new fraction will appear for all Bihor residents: textile waste, which will be collected quarterly from door to door, and at any time, in containers that will be specifically located in the towns and villages of the county. “Starting with 2025, we have the legal obligation, as a country, to collect this fraction separately, and we thought that our county would be the first county to do this as early as 2024,” said the head of Ecolect.

Mircea Mălan also said that the change in frequencies will allow sanitation tariffs not to increase significantly for the residents of Bihor, but only by small amounts, of 1-2 lei, in the context in which the circular economy tax, due for each ton of waste abandoned at heap, it doubled, the minimum wage in the economy rose from 2,500 lei (as it was in 2022, when the rates in Bihor were approved) to 3,300 lei, and inflation increased.

“If other elements that do not concern us intervene, the rates in Bihor county will not change, at least this year,” said the head of Bihor sanitation.

On the other hand, it is worth mentioning that the recycling rate in Bihor county reached, according to last year’s data, 32.27%, with more than three percentage points compared to 2022.