Tallinn to ban single-use plastic dishes at public events

TALLINN - According to the new Waste Management Code of the City of Tallinn that passed its first reading in the council on Thursday, in the future, food and drink can only be served in reusable containers, with reusable cutlery, at public events taking place in Tallinn.

In addition to changes to the regulations concerning public events, the requirement for separate collection of biowaste will be extended to all properties.

The chairman of the city council, Jevgeni Ossinovski, welcomed the regulatory changes prepared by the city government.

"We need to significantly reduce the waste of natural resources, and the switch to reusable dishes at public events is an important step on this path," he said. "The wider requirement for biowaste sorting will help to reduce the volume of waste going to landfill and produce compost and, in the longer term, valuable biogas from kitchen waste."

Ossinovski said that, as a next step, an obligation should be imposed for waste transporters to collect both glass and mixed packaging near apartment buildings.

"The city government has promised to pilot this solution in a couple of districts soon. I hope this experiment succeeds, so we can expand it across the city," the chairman of the council said.

The purpose of the regulation is to improve people's environmental awareness, reduce the amount of waste generated at public events and littering, including marine litter, and facilitate the deployment circular economy business models by creating demand for reuse systems.

From April 1, 2023, all properties in Tallinn will have to collect bio-waste in a container and hand it over to their waste collector. Houses with up to two apartments can apply for exemptions from the obligation to have a container if they decide to compost their waste on site.