The sun was back last weekend, and that means full terraces and parks. It was busy in the Westerpark, among others. A gold mine for deposit hunters because a lot is drunk on these days. And that could be seen, because every garbage bin in the park was opened and it was a mess in the park.
Local residents we spoke to this morning understand very well that there are people who can use that money and actually have no idea how to stop this.
Every trash can in the Westerpark is about the same thing. Everywhere the valve is open and with every trash there is garbage next to the container. That was also the case in other parks, such as the Vondelpark and the Rembrandtpark.
The phenomenon has of course existed since cans and bottles of deposit. “Not nice, but it is logical that it happens,” says a lady we speak in the Westerpark. She is not the only one who looks at it that way. “The money is still on the street,” notes someone else. “But don’t make it a hug. Throw it back in the bag.”
What the solution is? “I have no idea,” said the woman. “Maybe the people have to keep their own garden clean. There are, for example, many volunteers who poke junk off the street”. “Or you take your cans with you as a user,” suggests a woman who is standing next to her.
Municipality surprised by the beautiful weather
A spokesperson for the municipality says that at weekends with good weather, certain extra measures are normally used to limit the waste nuisance. This concerns, for example, the placement of deposit boxes and extra waste bins. The trash can also be emptied more often daily and there are special teams that have to inform people where they can lose their waste.
These measures are only taken from April to September, not in March, when it is normally still too cold to sit in the park all afternoon
“So we are actually surprised by the weather,” says a municipal spokesperson. “Everyone went to the park en masse yesterday, while our extra bet was just there. That is why it is now dirty than it should be. We are working hard to clean everything.” The spokesperson emphasizes that this problem is also going on in other cities.
The cleaning service was in the park today around 11 am to clean up.