RECYCLING
WHY RECYCLE?
REDUCE & REUSE
RECYCLING IN BUDAPEST
AT HOME
As you have probably noticed, most apartment buildings in Budapest come equipped with green, blue, and yellow sorting bins to make recycling effortless for its residents.
Yellow bins are for plastic and metal waste (aluminum cans, plastic bottles, bags, yogurt cups, shampoo bottles), blue bins for paper products or containers (newspapers, egg cartons, boxes, etc.), and green bins for all other types of recycling waste.
To help make the sorting process quicker and easier for recycling companies, they ask that items are rinsed before disposing into the blue and yellow receptacles.
AT SHOPS AND MARKETS
Unfortunately there aren't any specific sorting bins for glass materials at apartments. However most soda, beer and syrup bottles can be taken to larger shops and supermarkets that are equipped with special machines. Please be sure to wash your bottles first and in return you will receive a deposit voucher. For smaller stores, you will have to ring the bell by the stockroom or find the person in charge of counting bottles, where they will then write you a handwritten voucher indicating how much your refund should be. All you need to do is take it to the cashier, who will exchange it for cash or a discount on your purchased food.
OUTDOOR COLLECTION LOCATIONS
Throughout Budapest, there are an array of specially designated collection points for recyclable material. They work similarly to the colorful bins you find at apartments, "yellow" for plastics, "blue" for paper materials, and "grey" for metal and aluminum. However, these outdoor locations also have containers for glass: "white" bins are for clear glass and "green" for colored glass.
Click here find out about the nearest collection point near you.