@TheBreadmonkey This seems great until: Someone before you managed to block the chute, and only a specialist can fix it.

Classical case in my neighbourhood was cardboard boxes. If some lazy person didn't bother to rip them into sheets, I could my self clear some space in the bin. But with those underfloor bins, you're prevented from helping yourself.

@TheBreadmonkey we had those in my town (near Madrid) but were removed not long ago, I don't know why.

@TheBreadmonkey

They have these in Italy too, and they are fun to watch being operated.... as the video suggests

@TheBreadmonkey That’s pretty impressive!

@TheBreadmonkey
Isn't that mostly standard in Europe?

@TheBreadmonkey Isn’t this normal?

@TheBreadmonkey Wow. When tech is used for good

@TheBreadmonkey dude everywhere I went in Europe this summer.

@TheBreadmonkey
Similar containers are commonplace here in 🇫🇮 too.

There's a huge, tall sack underground which is lifted up for emptying with a crane in the same fashion you can see in the video.

For dry waste they're perfect, but it gets pretty interesting with biowaste during winter as it tends to freeze.

@TheBreadmonkey They're only closed on Kings Day, then all the trash is on the streets.

@TheBreadmonkey The ones we have in my town (Leiden) also automatically start to grind the trash. First time I noticed that was a bit weird 🙂

@TheBreadmonkey

This is what NYC needs!

Somebody tag Mamdani! 😄

@TheBreadmonkey
Is that a strip of bog roll hanging off the bottom of that massive underground trash bin?
Also, do they have underground raccoons (trash pandas) in the Netherlands?

@TheBreadmonkey This is also very common in Spain, especially in city centers.

@TheBreadmonkey And how in Satan's ass you put the rubbish in the rubbish bin, if the rubbish bin is in an underground larger rubbish bin that needs the rubbish men to come out with there rubbish truck to claw out the rubbish bin out of the bloody rubbish bin in these matryoshka construct of rubbish.

@TheBreadmonkey yes they look nice, but loud as hell! The one outside my window serves as a free alarm clock :)

@TheBreadmonkey also in parts of Portugal

@TheBreadmonkey @djoerd We have those in Paris, too!

@TheBreadmonkey But do they have passenger pick-up trucks the size of APCs all over the streets? I think not 😤

@TheBreadmonkey I've seen similar solution in some cities across Spain, ingenious!

@TheBreadmonkey
They’re being used in France, too

@TheBreadmonkey we have the same system in Bern, Switzerland

@TheBreadmonkey Similar things here in Finland 👍

@TheBreadmonkey Same in some towns in Switzerland e.g. Aarau. 👍🏾

@TheBreadmonkey We have the same system many places in Denmark, including where I live.

@TheBreadmonkey yup, I've seen this system in many places in Spain, I believe including my town's historical part (possibly because it reduces truck transit to a minimum and takes little space).

@TheBreadmonkey While the first part is true, they're not directly the reason Dutch streets are mostly clean.

They are locked by an electronic card system so they cannot be used by the general public and every use is charged.

The streets stay clean because those charges are what pay workers to come and clean them. The Dutch still litter and dump trash above ground like crazy!

@TheBreadmonkey

Sheesh, they probably only have to empty that thing once a month.

@TheBreadmonkey The nice thing about it is that it allows you to take out the trash (to that underground container) whenever it suits you. No need to put up with a smelly bag or bin until it gets collected.

@TheBreadmonkey I was surprised how tall they are

@TheBreadmonkey Dow will sell you 10% biodegradable plastics, claiming 90%.

Yay petrochemicals and #FossilFuels #Oligarchy!

@TheBreadmonkey rad! I love that it appears to have toilet paper stuck to its bottom, gives the appearance of having one’s shit all together.

@TheBreadmonkey
Ha, yeah. It saves people from having to have a wheelie bin, but in stead of having to fill out the bin every 1 or 2 weeks, we now have to walk up to 200m with a trash bag about twice a week to get rid of the trash.
Not sure which is better.

@TheBreadmonkey that’s some strong toilet paper holding onto the bin

@TheBreadmonkey omg that is so clever

@TheBreadmonkey same here. Especially obvious in nearby Vendoire (left) where the bits above ground are even smaller than our village’s ones (right). Ours you can peer in and see the bottom and it’s about 2m down maybe.

@TheBreadmonkey
Still smelly though.

@TheBreadmonkey In the quarter where I live, in Italy, we had that system 20 years ago, as a pilot test. It could also weigh the different type of trash, to eventually adapt what you payed to what you discarded.
After a few years we received a letter saying that the test had been a tremendous success, but the test time was over: they removed everything.

Now we lay bags of trash on the curb, which is probably considered a best acceptable failure.
In this country we make sure it ain't by chance.

@TheBreadmonkey that is simply a regular trash in Europe I suppose. Denmark and Germany have them too.

@TheBreadmonkey https://www.telegram.hr/vijesti/zagrebacki-hdz-postavljanje-podzemnih-spremnika-na-trgu-usporedio-s-komunistickim-micanjem-bana-jelacica/

In Croatia, the ruling party called installation of these underground bins to political and urbanistic devastation of city center, basically saying that anyone who supports them is a communist. 🤣

Link in Croatian.

@TheBreadmonkey Wow. Like emptying the vacuum cleaner, only mostly hidden from view. I like that the streets and sidewalks seem to be free of litter. I can tell a lot about how much people respect a place, by whether there is trash strewn or not.

When J and I had to fly to the West coast of the U.S. for a funeral, we played a little game I call "spot the trash." We were in one of the most Posh places you can find in California: Los Altos. We were there for three whole days and did not spot one bit of trash anywhere on any street or sidewalk. We could never ever afford to live there (even buying a small apartment would set you back $1.2 million USD) but it was so fun to visit, like a strange land. And as a side note, I got to meet my Iranian extended family members, which was fascinating. They escaped, right before the revolution in 1979. We learned a lot from them about how different and open the culture had been there, before the religious crackdown. Both my stepbrother's wife and her brother were able to continue their education here and thrived. It made me sad to think of the families who didn't have the money to leave and start a new life, but I was mesmerized by their story.

Sorry, Ben. I really went off on a tangent there! Thanks for letting me reminisce.

@TheBreadmonkey Hah, a video about this was one of the first ones that made @notjustbikes go viral.
https://youtu.be/0JtoSafhvLM

@TheBreadmonkey

Some newer build areas in Germany are also getting them, to save space more than anything else. But, as someone else pointed out, bulky items still need to be set out separately on special days.

@TheBreadmonkey Same system over in (in Portugal). Streets could be cleaner, but that’s on us 😅

@TheBreadmonkey Tardis bins, bigger on the inside. What a brilliant idea!

#GoodIdeas

@TheBreadmonkey we have them in Oslo too! mostly part of the newer apartment blocks. And talking bins!