(live here) – In recent years, Haifa seems to be losing its environmental focus precisely in the area where it is supposed to lead the way in recycling. Many residents report the mysterious disappearance of orange, purple, and sometimes even blue recycling bins from the city's streets. The result: a decline in recycling, loss of public trust, and growing resentment toward the municipality.
As published in several articles on the Haifa website over the past year, many residents have complained about the disappearance of orange, purple and other recycling bins from various locations throughout the city. Residents warned that removing the bins, moving them away from residential areas and making them inaccessible could lead to the actual cessation of recycling and harm to the city's environmental efforts.
"It started with the disappearance of the orange bin in my building at 31 Freud Street," says Iris Hahn, former CEO of the Society for the Protection of Nature, an environmental planner and Haifa resident. "Our building had a designated place for green, blue and orange bins, and one day the orange bin simply disappeared. At first I thought maybe they were replacing it with a newer one, but it never came back. When I called 106, they told me that it was not their responsibility and that the issue belonged to the Citizen Service Center in the Operations Division. Since then, there has been no answer and no bin."
Tin can strike – not just an isolated incident
Hahn is not the only one who feels that something in the city is not working. She says that within a short time, orange bins also disappeared from the rest of Freud Street and the nearby main streets. "When I contacted the municipal center, they said there was an orange bin nearby, but it was half a kilometer from home. Most people wouldn't walk half a kilometer with a bag of packaging just to recycle, and that's completely understandable."
Later, she said, an orange bin was placed in a new spot on the street, but by then many had given up. "People want to recycle, but not when they have to go through an obstacle course. If it takes too much effort, they just throw everything in the green bin."
Residents feel they are being treated with disdain
The problem is even more serious when you realize that this is not an isolated failure. "Purple bins are also disappearing, the bins are not distributed logically, there is no easy access, and it seems that their placement is done without any planning. The feeling is that there is no real desire here to encourage recycling, but only 'marking the V' in green."
According to Han, according to the Recycling Law, every local authority is obligated to recycle at least 25% of the waste it produces and report this to the Ministry of Environmental Protection. "If the municipality does not provide appropriate infrastructure for residents, it is actually making it difficult for them to meet the goals it itself is supposed to maintain."
Environmental and financial cost
Beyond harming the environment, it's also an economic waste. Every ton of waste that ends up in landfill costs taxpayers a lot of money. "Instead of recycling and saving, we're just polluting the environment and pushing more and more waste into the ground. It doesn't make sense, neither environmentally nor economically," Han emphasizes.
The solution: environmental thinking, not just operational thinking
Han emphasizes that the elected municipality should place the issue of the environment at the top of its priorities. "I would expect not only that they not harm the recycling infrastructure, but that they would develop new initiatives such as distributing composters to shared buildings, municipal outreach, encouraging recycling among the younger generation, and intelligent planning of the distribution of bins so that they are accessible, visible, and easy to use."
Instead, she said, the current conduct seems to be working in exactly the opposite direction: "The municipality seems to be pushing the bins away, confusing the residents and simply making it difficult for those who do want to do the right thing. There is no environmental or public logic in this approach."
Recycling is a simple, everyday action that can make a significant difference to the future of the environment. But when the municipal infrastructure is dysfunctional, residents also despair. "This is not a public problem, it's a problem for the authorities," Hahn concludes. "It's time for someone to take responsibility and bring recycling back to the center of the municipal discourse and not to the warehouses of the operations department."
Why is it important to recycle and how to do it correctly? This information can be found on the municipality's website.
Recycling is not only a way to reduce waste, it is a way to turn waste into a resource. Beyond the ecological contribution, recycling saves costs and reduces environmental pollution. In 2023 alone, nearly 40 tons of municipal waste in Haifa, which constitutes 22.71%, were recycled. There is still room for improvement and it is still lower than required by law.
Waste separation at source is key: paper, cardboard, plastic, textiles, and other materials can be collected separately in designated bins throughout the city. Everyone can contribute at home, at work, and in public spaces.
What do you throw away and where? Get to know the colors of the bins:
- Orange tin for packaging: Plastic bottles, bags, plastic boxes, beverage cartons, wrappers, empty cans and more.
- Blue bin for paper and cardboard: Newspapers, printer sheets, notebooks (without spiral), clean cardboard packaging, envelopes.
- Purple tin for glass: Wine bottles, jam jars, glass bottles without lids and no broken mirrors or windows.
- Green bin (regular bin) for general waste that cannot be recycled: Food scraps, hygiene products, dirty wrappers, etc.
It is important to clarify that according to the Packaging Law, each local authority is obliged to establish and implement a clear arrangement for the separation, collection and removal of packaging waste, whether it is a "wet-dry" model, an orange bin (three streams) or designated streams approved by "Tamir". The absence of such an arrangement constitutes a violation of the law. In addition, the law requires an agreement with a recognized body such as Tamir, which will finance the separation and removal activity, according to an agreement approved by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. Starting in December 2021, it is also required to sign a new amendment annex as part of the agreement.
According to the list of authorities that signed a contract agreement with Tamir Corporation, the Haifa Municipality is also included.
The Haifa Municipality responded: "The Haifa Municipality sees great importance in encouraging recycling and protecting the environment, and operates in accordance with the guidelines of recycling corporations and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and even beyond. In recent years, there has been a significant decrease in the amount of paper being recycled, mainly due to the transition to digital means. In light of this, the number of blue bins was reduced throughout the country, including in Haifa, after it became clear that many of them were emptied when empty.
"Regarding the orange bins (for packaging), a new mapping was carried out in order to adjust their layout. However, we note that their number in the city is approximately 200 higher than the quantity required according to the national standard. As for the purple bins (for glass) - no change has occurred. The bins continue to operate as usual in locations that were found to be suitable and accessible to the public."
Searching for the nearest recycling point, use michzor.co.il
Haifa is a fading, dying, dark and miserable city. An elderly mayor who was elected to last another 5 years and do for his own good. What he didn't do in previous terms he will never do again. Here's an example of Book Week: In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, nothing will take place in Haifa. Nada. Boredom. Why?? Like this. Because the Haifa municipality is sleepy, rotten, investing nothing in culture, quality of life for residents and nothing in recycling and protecting the environment.
It's a good thing they're gone, the bins are ugly, the bins block the sidewalk, the bins are not suitable for Haifa's barbaric population.
The Haifa Municipality is not serious, the committee is going wild with inflating salaries, upgrading standards, benefits for municipal employees, a private car, and vacations in luxury hotels at the expense of the city's development budgets.
All of Haifa feels how the high property tax money is being robbed and urban development is at a standstill. They paint roads with paint or a few fences of a public building that will look like new, but they don't renew anything. Very little is being built. Buildings stand closed and neglected. And in the Hagia Municipality, every employee arrives with a luxury car... because there is also no improvement in public transportation.
In Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, tens of billions are being invested in improving public transportation, and in Haifa, the feeling is that everything is stuck and the train is stalling all development around the coastal neighborhoods, and overhead electrified fences are coming.
Along with the war – a feeling of severe decline.
The orange curtains are a terrible nuisance. A bulky design that blocks the field of vision, blocks sidewalks, and openings that allow flies, rodents, and cats to enter.
Instead of buried bins like everywhere else in the world, we got this ugly, smelly orange plastic block. This way, recycling is not encouraged and we will not use the orange bin until it is buried in the ground.
Will the cycle end? With the advent of lush gardens, all the usual bins have also disappeared from the public space. Later, we will be given a walk. Luckily, the beaches are getting stronger and are clearing out bins. In the rest of the city, you can walk for miles with a cigarette butt or, conversely, a bag of dog poop that has no place in your pocket. The result: litter on and next to benches, in public planters, on the sidewalks… and the city is getting cleaner!
The municipality's response is a mockery of the residents.
Is there less paper and empty containers being emptied? Reduce the frequency of emptying.
Recently, the blue container at 89 Galilee Street, which served as the section between the public cinema and the water tower and Mitzpe Street (from which a container was also taken a few years ago on the grounds that access to the evacuation truck was difficult), was taken.
This area is populated mostly by an older population that has already adopted recycling habits.
My parents, who are over 80 years old, called the municipality to inquire about the container and they received the answer quoted in the article + a recommendation to go to one of the recycling centers.
So, if recycling is not available, people will not recycle. Period – exclamation point!
Personally, I, a young person, who has been recycling newspapers since my youth and who taught my children to separate waste, will not bother going to a recycling center, will not waste fifteen minutes and/or a gram of gas on it, and will not look for parking and get out of the car to recycle.
I won't have it near my house - I won't recycle.
Too bad.
And another thing, people who still recycle and have taken the blue bin also throw newspapers in the orange bin.
In my opinion, the harm outweighs the benefit.
Since I was interviewed for the article, the blue bin has also been taken away. On the other hand, a blue bin remains in the middle of a fairly long stretch of street without residential buildings. Does it make sense? It doesn't. And then people are surprised that this bin is empty...
Systemic stupidity in the municipality
All true.
I'm from Carmel. The bins just disappeared.
As for the municipality's response:
"The bins continue to operate as usual in places that have been found suitable for this" - please do not underestimate our intelligence.
Such an evasive answer contains no response to the real situation on the ground.
Give us back the bins!
I am a devoted recycler. Every box, bottle, or piece of paper is collected in a suitable bag for me and goes to the designated bin. On the corner of Shaar El-Habanon Street and Yaffe Nof Street, there are three bins. There I throw away what I have collected at home. Often these bins are full and it is difficult to squeeze any more into them. Recently I was barely able to squeeze in a bag of papers, at least the blue one. There were also 3 bins on President Boulevard, just after the Mother's Garden. Sometimes I would throw them there when I went for a daily walk with my dog, until one day only one bin was left. The rest disappeared and I was left with my recycling bags in my hand. This is not the first time I have encountered disappearances. Bins or rather, bins that are too full to be used.
The cycle is very important to me. It's a shame it's not as important to the leaders.
I once came across a large mesh container along President Boulevard, for recycling broken electrical appliances. It too has disappeared and is no more. It is unfortunate that the authorities do not cooperate with the residents' desire to recycle.
There used to be a bin at a gas station on Hehalutz Street where you could throw clothes, and it suddenly disappeared one bright day. I actually enjoyed recycling the clothes I didn't need and had no one to give them to, or the clothes were unsuitable. Now I don't know where to look for that bin in the area. Even where I worked, the clothes bin at the Adrimliti intersection in Haifa disappeared.