Flammables in waste spark concerns

Last year saw three instances of fires breaking out in garbage trucks and bins belonging to national recycling company IRF.

This can have serious consequences, which is why the IRF is urging the public to be more careful with its waste sorting to ensure that flammables are not mixed into regular household waste.

Fløskupant, IRF og fløskupant

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Archive photo

“We are seeing too many flammable discards such as fireworks, batteries and pressurised canisters in household waste,” says Andrias Joensen, who heads the IRF’s collection point.

“As this poses great risks to our staff, I would like to call on the public to pay more attention to the way they sort their waste.”

The IRF website offers a handy guide (in Faroese only) to help you sort your waste correctly. For additional advice, call IRF at 414243.

Tunnel littering: a separate challenge

A related issue is that there is too much littering in the tunnels.

“We are spending too many resources on clearing up litter such pizza boxes, plastic bottles and cigarettes in our tunnels,” says a spokesperson for the tunnel company.

“Although this litter does not present a direct safety hazard, I would kindly ask drivers to be a bit more considerate.”

The littering is worst in the Streymoy-Eysturoy subsea tunnel, he adds.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

English version by prosa.fo.

More Faroese News in English.