The Jerusalem Municipality completed the project of installing 130 hidden garbage cans in the East Talpiot neighborhood. New sensors will be installed to report the amount of garbage in each container at any given time. The project is being continued in N’vei Yaakov and then, in French Hill.

The installation of the bins is part of the clean-up reform initiated by Mayor Nir Barkat, in the framework of which he will replace 2000 of the current “frog” garbage bins with the hidden ones.

As part of this project, 130 garbage cans in the East Talpiot neighborhood have recently been installed in a number of streets, such as Avshalom Haviv, Meir Nakar, Shlomo Ben-Yosef. In the next few weeks, special sensors will be installed to transmit to the control center located in each sub-district, data on the amount of garbage inside the container and recommended time for evacuation of the receptacle.

With the installation of the sensors in the new cans, it will be possible to receive information about complete containers, so that garbage disposal will be planned only for the full containers, while adjusting the evacuation route, which will improve garbage disposal and reduce the movement of garbage vehicles in the city’s neighborhoods. This way it will be possible to plan efficient, smarter and cheaper waste removal.

At the same time as the completion of the project in the East Talpiot neighborhood, the municipality has begun installing hidden garbage cans in the N’vei Yaakov neighborhood and will soon begin construction work in the French Hill neighborhood.

In the framework of the entire project, some 2,000 cans are expected to be erected throughout the city of Jerusalem in the next three years, with a total investment of 100 million NIS.

The project for installing the garbage dump facilities is carried out by the Urban Open Administration with Moriah.

To date, the municipality has installed hundreds of garbage cans in the neighborhoods of Chomat Shmuel, Givat Massua, the city center, Shivtei Israel Street, Maalot Dafna and other neighborhoods in order to meet the needs of garbage removal in the city.

The hidden receptacles have many advantages over the “frogs” in regarding environmental pollution, adding an aesthetic hazard in the urban landscape, eliminating the presence of pests, the danger of fire damage and leaves a larger and cleaner open space.

“We continue to increase cleanliness throughout the city, which improve the living conditions in the city and the welfare of the residents”, says Itzik Nidam, head of the municipality’s operations department. “The project is designed to improve the the public space, and also makes it increasingly pleasant for residents and guests to come to the city and improve the environment.”

The use of the hidden garbage cans is simple and efficient, and adds another dimension beneath the ground in the urban and public spaces, explains the director of the sanitation department, Tzion Sheetrit. “The land-based garbage cans allow us to clear areas for the public good and ensure a clean and well-kept public space.”

The installation of landfill facilities throughout the city is part of a multi-year plan to improve the city’s landscape and improve the cleanliness of the city initiated by Mayor Nir Barkat. In this context, Barkat initiated another cleaning reform initiated by Barkat at an annual scope of approximately 13 million NIS, with the addition of 100 new employees. This is the most significant program approved in recent years with the aim of immediately bringing about a significant upgrade in the cleanliness of Jerusalem.

“We have increased the number of workers, added tools and vehicles, added garbage collection routes, and will continue the project of burying garbage containers throughout the city for the benefit of the residents and to improve the appearance and cleanliness of the city,” said Mayor Nir Barkat.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)