Settlements participating in the HungAIRy LIFE integrated project, have launched an awareness campaign on home composting as an eco-friendly method to recycle organic waste.

A large portion of green waste ends up in landfills, while another massive amount is burnt in backyards or incinerated. The burning of waste is still a legal practice in some settlements, but as soon as the pandemic-related “state of emergency” is over, local governments will have no decision-making power on open waste burning. These activities pose risk to the environment and public health, therefore open waste burning will be banned at national level. As a result, improving air quality will improve people’s health and lead to a significant reduction of premature death. However, the complete ban on burning of waste in open places and a fine of HUF 100.000 of each incident of bulk waste burning alone won’t be enough to address the problem. It is also important to raise public awareness on composting and eco-friendly methods to recycle waste within households. 

The use of landfill space can be reduced by 20 percent when organics are recycled (organic waste makes up 20 percent of food and yard waste). According to the Act CLXXXV/2012 on Waste, the regulations on waste management will be tightened. For that propose, strategy for the selective collection and best use of organic waste must be developed by 31 December 2023. Encouraging backyard composting is also necessary in order to fulfil the requirements.

Some of the impressive benefits of composting are the following: it keeps organic waste out of landfills, organics can be recycled at home, and fresh compost can be used to create nutrient-rich soil in your garden.

Throughout the ‘komPOSZTold’ public awareness campaign, community events will be held by 10 local governments (Budapest, Békéscsaba, Miskolc, Debrecen, Eger, Kaposvár, Karcag, Tatabánya, Pécs, Szolnok) participating in the HungAIRy project. The aim of the campaign is to raise public awareness on the importance and ease of composting, and encourage people for composting and convince others to compost. The participating local governments encourage composting by providing tools and technical guidance on composting at home.

Activities in the frame of the campaign

In the first phase of the campaign, between 1 June and 31 December 2021, the following activities (in a non-exhaustive list) are held (each settlement has organized different programs):

• Residents can require compost frames for home gardening by the local governments, with a condition of participating in a training course on learning how to deal with organic garbage.
• Establishing community composting point at crowded places of the settlements.
• Granting certain quantity of compost frames to educational institutions to raising children’s environmental awareness (supplemented by fun activities).
• Tenders for children and adults.
• Residents can require wood chippers to use it free of charge.

The eco-managers are responsible for organizing and holding public awareness events, educational trainings and composting activities for children in the settlements.

You can look on our website for more news and information on the “komPOSZTold” campaign.