This year is a jubilee year for EKO KOM – the system for recycling of packaging waste in the Czech Republic. Within these 15 years, the system achieved the aimed goals in the amount of the sorted waste, collection bins and the number of people who are willing to sort their waste – 72% of Czech citizens actively sort the waste and 75% of all packages in the EKO-KOM system are recycled.
More than 253,000 recycling bins are available across the country for people to sort their waste. Each collection point serves an average of 141 people, which is an excellent results by EU standards. In other countries, one collection point serves hundreds or even thousands of people. The growing density of the recycling network also decreases the average distance people have to go to get to the nearest recycling bins. This distance has been cut in half over the last decade, and has now dropped below the magic number of 100 meters. More importantly, the closer people have their recycling bins, the more they recycle!