Tens of thousands of kilos of party waste: cities busy all day with cleaning streets

600 extra garbage collectors, 97 road sweepers and another 100 other waste trucks were needed to get things clean in Amsterdam. In total, about 2,500 cubic meters of waste was collected in the capital, which is roughly equivalent to about 10,000 wheelie bins.

That could have been much more: “What stood out this year is that people on the free market neatly brought their unsold goods and clothing to the recycling containers”, said a spokesperson for the municipality.

NH Nieuws made images of a very polluted Amsterdam this morning. Text continues below the video.

12,000 kilos of Haarlem bulky waste

The streets in other Noord-Holland municipalities were also full. According to Spaarnelanden, the company that collects waste in Haarlem, a total of about 12,000 kilos of bulky waste has been collected. These are mainly items that were left behind after the free markets. In addition to bulky waste, approximately 4,000 kilos of sweeping waste was also collected. “That comes down to eight full sweepers,” said a spokesman.

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In Alkmaar, the perception is that there was more dirt on the streets this year than in other years, says a spokesperson for Stadswerk072. Other cities say that there was less waste on the street after King’s Day, a trend from before corona that seems to be continuing this year.

In the municipality of Hoorn, 7,000 kilos of bulky waste was collected and a total of 20 cubic meters of ‘sweeping waste’. The latter mainly concerns cans, plastic cups and other waste that belongs in the trash can.