1. What does the Department of Greening and Environment do?

Separate waste containers installed in Yerevan City are maintained by the waste sorting administration of the Greening and Environment protection Department. Plastic, glass and cardboard waste is collected and handed over to recycling companies.

2. Which classes of separate waste containers are presented in Yerevan nowadays? How and where can we find them?

Three classes of containers are installed for cardboard, glass and plastic waste. Bins for cardboard and plastic waste have yellow and blue colors respectively, 1100 liters volume, and bins for glass waste have black color 240 liters volume.

There are 140 containers in Yerevan city at the moment, you can get the information about their location on the project yrvn.am main page or on the Department’s website greenyerevan.am. Both maps are identical and are updated simultaneously.

3. How is the process of sorted waste collection and utilization conducted?

In Yerevan, waste is collected by 4 Mercedes Benz Sprinter trucks, which collect glass and plastic waste, and 4 Gazon Next vehicles, the latter for cardboard collection. In the event that there is garbage in the sorting containers, which, unfortunately, is not uncommon, the attendants separate the garbage on the spot and throw it into ordinary trash cans.

4. How does the sorted waste recycling procedure work? What does recycled material consist of and how is it used?

Paper and paper products are produced from cardboard and recycled paper: boxes, notebooks, drawers etc.

In the result of plastic waste recycling plastic raw material is obtained, which is used for vase, hangers, irrigation and drainage pipes production depending on quality and class of sorted raw material.

Glass packaging is produced by the secondary processing of glass waste.

5. What can and can’t I put in the yellow bin?

The yellow bins were intended for paper and cardboard only, no receipts, tickets or tissues could be placed.

Checks and tickets have little pulp, so the likelihood of recycled material is quite small, and in addition, they contain the substance Bisphenol-A, which contaminates the rest of the paper with toxins.

Not everyone knows that coffee cups are not recyclable. Many still consider this container to be environmentally friendly because it is made of paper.

To prevent liquid from leaking out of the cup, manufacturers cover the inner and sometimes the outer walls of the cup with a special polypropylene film.

Because of this, such containers cannot be recycled to reuse cardboard, which is why recycling companies do not accept cups.

6. What is allowed and not allowed to put in the blue bin?

Blue containers are only for recycling plastic containers, plastic bags, you can not place household waste.

Important: foil plastic is not recyclable!

7. What can and can’t I put in the black bin?

Black containers are for glass waste, you cannot dispose of windshields, side and rear windows of cars, TV screens.

8. We also noticed red bins during the public events. What are they for and when will they appear in the city?

The red containers are for aluminum container waste and are planned to be installed in phases after May. The first phase will start with the Kentron administrative district.

9. Why are black bins missing from almost all locations and not being refilled?

They are supposed to be stolen. (The Department) files reports with the police in all cases. The Department has also taken steps to equip the sorting stations with containers designed for glass, the possibility of theft of which, as well as the theft of waste accumulated in them, will be minimal.

The installation of additional containers is planned tentatively for September of this year.

10. Are people allowed to put glass in blue bins if the black is missing?

Yes, it’s possible because the transportation is conducted by the same cars.

11. How to put the sorted plastic waste in the blue bin? In a separate bag or not necessarily?

There is no prerequisite, but it is advisable to put it in a separate bag in a blue container.

12. The plastic packages from the vegetable or olive oil have the PET marking. We were informed by you that we can put them in the blue bin, intended for plastic. Some eco-activists insist that’s not allowed. Could you clarify?

Regardless of what types of plastic are currently recyclable, we decided not to separate them from each other and to encourage the sorting of regular plastic waste, hoping that an increased sorting culture and more sortable waste would encourage recyclers to also consider the types of plastic waste that are unfortunately not currently recycled.

13. Eco-activists say before putting waste in the bin everything needs to be washed. Is it true?

There is no prerequisite as well, because the waste goes through the washing stage during the recycling. However you need to consider that it takes a long time to get to this stage, that’s why in the result of simple rinsing at home we can avoid unpleasant smell, insect population and other negative phenomena, which impair sanitary conditions, which must be maintained especially in the summer.

14. Can I deposit the paper receipts in the yellow container?

Checks have little pulp, so the yield of recycled material is quite low, and they also contain bisphenol-A, which contaminates the rest of the paper with toxins. For this reason, the checks cannot be sorted.

15. Our yard lacks appropriate containers for sorted waste. What should I do?

It is necessary to contact the Department by phone +374 11 51 47 44 or through the greenyerevan.am website, which will contact the resident through the responsible person of this administrative region, directing him to the nearest sorting point, or, if possible, the car will arrive at the specified address. In addition, the address or the adjacent area will be included in the database created to explore the possibility of a sorting point installing at this address when available sorted waste bins in the future.

You can also fill out a feedback form at yrvn.am, from which data will be transmitted centrally to the Department for processing.

16. How do you assess the organized campaign for the collection and disposal of Christmas trees? How many trees were collected and what were the citizens interested in? Can we expect the action to be an annual one?

This year we evaluate the campaign for the collection and recycling of fir trees positively, and we plan to conduct it in future years, informing citizens about the fir tree collection campaign in advance. However, as an environmental company, we urge you to refrain from using natural spruce trees.