The garbage floats in the river!
The third phase of DenCity, the project that develops smart and sustainable transport for urban densification, is underway. This means that the mobile floating recycling center is tested for six weeks in the Gothenburg port. The hope is that the initiative will be permanent.
- Now I don’t have to pick up someone to go to the tip!
Hege Wendelbo has no car and lives on Kungsgatan. Sorting the garbage at Stenpiren, which she ha sjust done when we meet her, is an excellent idea she thinks. Not only because it makes it easier for herself but also from a environmental aspect.
- In the city many people do not have a car and the garbage room in our building are full of stuff that does not belong there. Totally unsorted. It makes me mad. But now there is nothing to blame. I hope the floating station is here to stay an that it creates new habits in peoplle.
Peter Årnes, strategist at Cycle and Water in the City of Gothenburg and project manager for this part of the DenCity collaboration, thinks the same.
- From the beginning, my attitude has been that we should have this in Gothenburg, but we first have do it as a project, so that we can cancel it off if it works poorly.
However, he describes the weekend's premiere at the quay in Sannegårdshamnen as a success. More than 200 people came to throw away their garbage and over 800 kilos of clothing was handed in to Emmaus (who is also part of the project) for recycling. In the next six weeks, the station will ambulate between five quays in Gothenburg: Eriksbergstorget, Sannegårdshamnen, Amerikaskjulet, Rosenlund and Stenpiren.
- Then we evaluate and do another six weeks in the spring before the project ends, says Peter Årnes.
The idea is that the recycling station should be reached by bicycle or by foot. If you need to fill a trailer, it is better to go to one of the existing recycling centers. But unlike them, it costs nothing to leave trash on the floating recycling station..
When filled, the station is driven to Marieholm where waste is sorted to be transported for recycling or reuse. The station accepts most types of garbage but not heavier material, soil or garden waste.
You can find a timetable for the recycling station here.
