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Depositing trash around the kingdom has got a new meaning this week with the installation of the first recycling bank at Al Osra car park in Saar.
And there is also expanded waste collection capacity in the North and Middle Municipalities by Sphinx services and AMA International.
Initiated by Manama-based Recycling for Charity, the first lot of colour-coded skips are in place to collect reusable paper, plastic bottles, aluminium cans and transparent and coloured glass. The project aims to donate BD15 for every tonne of waste collected for charity work in the kingdom.
The company also plans to install 60 sets of similar skips free of cost in various public spaces such as schools and supermarkets. The project will be run in partnership with the Sphinx Cleaning Company, a garbage collection company, and the 'Love Bahrain Litter Free' campaign, a major awareness movement initiated by the kingdom's municipalities.
Recycling for Charity CEO, Boris Uhlig, said he is hopeful families can recycle at least 50 per cent of their waste. He said: "All of us need to take action to protect the environment and change the way we treat the environment. It is not a solution but an easy way to educate on good practice."
The containers are colour coded: blue for paper; yellow for plastic; red for metal; white for white or transparent glass and green for coloured glass. They are odour free and will be emptied by special trucks on site.
The collected items will then be transported to the company's factory in Sitra for sorting and sending to special factories in the kingdom and overseas.
Glass and paper will go to recycling factories in Saudi Arabia, aluminium cans and cardboard will be processed in Bahrain and sold in the local and Gulf markets. Plastic processing may be done in Turkey.
Recycling for Charity has also invited commercial organisations to advertise on the eye-catching bins and use the company's expertise to develop tailor-made waste management systems for their businesses.
In another development Sphinx Services /AMA International (Gesenu Group), responsible for waste management services in the North and Middle Municipalities, have announced they are placing larger, more modern waste containers within easy access of housing to enable householders to easily deposit their waste and keep it free from scavengers, rats and other vermin.
Sphinx Services along with Gulf City Cleaning Company, who looking after the waste management for the Manama and Muharraq Municipalities, have recently come together to launch a nation wide public awareness campaign to encourage support from citizens to help them with the safe disposal of waste.
The campaign, under the banner 'Love Bahrain Litter Free', urges everyone to take responsibility for the safe disposal of all household waste regularly into rubbish bins, as near to collection times as possible, thereby avoiding unsightly overspill and odours.
A number of new initiatives have been planned to help get the message across that dropping litter is unacceptable, and both companies are working with local PR agency MICE Management to implement an overall awareness campaign.
