Sturdier garbage bags against seagulls are a success

As in many coastal municipalities, De Haan often suffers from litter lying around after seagulls have pecked open the bags. But De Haan is now investigating when she can introduce the sturdier garbage bag.

“Seagulls pierce holes but do not remove waste”

The current yellow garbage bags of the intermunicipal waste company in De Haan and Wenduine are not sufficiently resistant to the pecking of hungry seagulls. They have been testing firmer bags at the container park for a few weeks now. “To my great surprise, the results are positive,” says Marleen De Soete, alderman for waste management in De Haan.

“We do see a big difference. Testing has been going on for a month now. There are still attempts. They poke smaller holes, but pulling out waste is no longer an option. The results are promising after a month of testing. “

(read more below the photo)

Inspiration from Zeeland

The bags with a firmer polymer plastic are twice as expensive and De Haan gets the mustard from Zeeland, where they face the same problem.

“We tested the bags at two sites. Both the existing bags and the new seagull-resistant bags. You can clearly see it. The existing bags were completely torn and the waste was out,” says environmental officer Dave Hendrickx.

It has not yet been decided when the new bags will be launched and also for sale. This is still being discussed with the waste intermunicipal authority.