The Municipal Cleaning Service of the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council has this week begun incorporating the fifth container, designated for the selective collection of organic waste, into a new area of the Guanarteme neighborhood, located in the Isleta-Puerto-Guanarteme district. With this expansion, 25 neighborhoods across the city's five districts now have this service.
This container, also known as the brown container, started its implementation in December 2023 at Mercalaspalmas and in the Municipal Nursery Schools. Subsequently, since April of last year, it has been progressively installed in numerous neighborhoods such as Los Tarahales, Ciudad Jardín, La Galera, La Minilla, San Antonio, Nueva Isleta, Altavista, San Nicolás, among others.
To use these bins, prior registration is required to obtain the access key. Since its launch, over 929,700 kilograms of organic waste have been collected. This material is transported to the Ecopark, managed by the Cabildo de Gran Canaria, where it is processed into compost for agricultural use. The service is expected to extend to new areas, such as the Zona de Madera y Corcho neighborhood, in the coming weeks.
The City Council specifies that the brown container is intended for organic waste such as food scraps, kitchen vegetable waste, fruit peels and bones, meat and fish (raw or cooked), expired food, dairy products, eggshells and nut shells, bread and pastries, grains, coffee grounds, tea bag filters, and dirty paper towels. Small branches, pruning waste, leaves, flowers, corks, sawdust, and wood shavings are also accepted.
The deposited waste is sent to a composting plant of the island council (Cabildo insular), which produces high-quality organic fertilizer. This compost is supplied free of charge to farmers who request it through the Cabildo de Gran Canaria website.
The Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Council states that ceramic objects, diapers, wet wipes, personal hygiene products, cigarette butts, chewing gum, pet excrement and litter, human or animal hair, dust, ashes, and plastic bottle caps should not be deposited in the brown container. The importance of using compostable garbage bags and closing them properly before placing them in the container is reiterated.
