Pärnu approves home waste collection and removes public packaging bins

Pärnu City Council has unanimously approved a waste management plan for 2027 to 2031, introducing home collection of sorted waste and removing public cardboard and packaging bins, ERR reported.

Under the new system, only a public container for glass packaging will remain. Households can collect packaging in a special bag or a container, depending on how much they produce and their preference.

Pärnu Deputy Mayor for Planning Robert Kiviselg said producer responsibility organisations would cover much of the cost of changing the system. He said residents would pay 50 cents per quarter for paper and cardboard collection and 50 cents for other mixed packaging.

Public bins for sorted waste have often contained items that do not belong in them. Collecting waste from detached houses will make it possible to check what is being sorted, Kiviselg said.

Ivo Jaanisoo, a deputy secretary general at the Ministry of Climate Affairs, said sorting practices had improved in several municipalities and households. He said door-to-door collection of bio-waste, introduced last year, had already produced results.

The new waste plan takes effect in September 2027.