Recycling in Prague – Blog 2

Guest blogger – Clare

The one glaring material that N.C. municipalities collect that the Czech recycling program does not is aluminum. This is probably because soda is sold in either plastic or glass. In fact, I can’t remember seeing anything in aluminum while in Prague. Or steel. I’m sure some things are sold packaged in those materials, but not enough to warrant a market for them.

I was also able to catch a “curbside” recycling pickup in action one afternoon. It started when I was almost run over by a recycling truck (talk about a reminder of home) and then I followed the truck to one of its pickups. It appears they use a dual stream process, as the truck that almost ended me had “PAPIR” emblazed in blue on the side (blue is also the color of the public bins that take paper). The truck stopped outside a business, a worker hopped out and went inside the front door, emerged a few seconds later with a blue roll cart, emptied the contents into the truck, and rolled the cart back inside. Luckily I had my camera so I could take pictures, but I’m sure the Czech man working the truck thought I was nuts.

Unfortunately, none of my program directors (who lived in Prague) knew anything about the country’s recycling program, other than they’ve never had any problems with it. Maybe next time I visit I’ll have mastered the language and return with a fuller report.