What is a clean point and what is it for

By Dr. Kyle Muller

Luckily, there are more and more people who separate the garbage that produce in their day to day, which helps the recycling be carried out in an easier and efficient way. One of the elements that help this process are clean points or ecological pointswhich are nothing other than facilities dedicated precisely to collecting and cataloging waste in order to manage them later in a responsible and respectful way to the environment.

If you want to deepen a little more in What is a clean point and what is it for Keep reading Ecology Verde and we tell you everything you have to know about it to get the most out.

What is and how a clean, green or ecological point works

A clean point, or also called a green point, is a Installation dedicated to the collection and cataloging of waste that citizens produce. In this sense, it performs a work similar to the recycling containers that are next to the garbage cubes on public roads. But, in the case of clean points, they are much larger facilities that allow manage almost any type of residuefrom batteries and kitchen oil, furniture, appliances, technological garbage, etc.

The clean points are managed by the town hall of the town where they are located. In this way, there may be very small cities that have very small and without staff, while in other cities there will be the case of having several clean points distributed throughout their territory, which occupy a larger surface and that, in many cases, have work personnel that will facilitate the deposit of the waste when citizens bring them.

On the other hand, in addition to the fixed clean pointssome locations have Mobile clean points. These ecological points are, in many cases, a truck with staff of the closest fixed clean point that move to different neighborhoods once a week with the aim of facilitating waste deposit without the need for the citizen to move to the fixed clean point. This more than facilitates being able to get rid of the leftover waste, since the clean moving points move to the neighborhoods farthest from the fixed ecological points, which allows a transport vehicle not to be necessary to carry some of these waste objects and prevent citizens from discarding them badly.

What can be thrown at a clean point and what not

In general, At an ecological point you can throw almost any residue or waste produced by the citizen on foot in his day to day. The big difference with recycling containers is that, at a clean point or Green pointspace is also available for more bulky objects or, simply, objects that are not thrown as frequently as packages, paper or glass can be.

Each clean point will be governed by the City Council regulations to which it belongs. However, in general, it can be said that an ecological point will accept the following types of waste.

Waste that accepts a clean point

  • Crystals and glass, as in green containers.
  • Cardboard and paper, as in blue containers.
  • Containers and plastics, as in yellow containers.
  • Metals and metal objects of an average volume.
  • Wood and objects of this material.
  • Used kitchen oils, which must be taken in a properly closed container (for example a plastic bottle).
  • Motor vehicles oil.
  • Automobile batteries.
  • Medications
  • Batteries and batteries, also mobile batteries.
  • Radiographs
  • Luminaires of all kinds, traditional bulbs, fluorescent, LED, low consumption, etc.
  • Paintings, both acrylic and synthetic, as well as varnishes, solvents, etc.
  • Furniture, from mattresses, chairs, tables, to carpentry such as doors and windows.
  • Debris, as long as they come from domestic works.
  • Electronic waste, televisions, computers, mobiles, electric shaves, small appliance, etc.
  • Large appliances, from refrigerators to air conditioners, dishwasher, washing machines, etc.
  • Clothing and footwear.
  • CDS, DVDs, plastic boxes, printer ink cartridges, office material, etc.
  • Thermometers and elements that carry Mercury.
  • Plant remains from pruning and clearing.
  • Decorative objects, such as mirrors or pictures.

As you can see, at a clean point we will be able to throw virtually any object from which we want to undo them in our day to day. However, there are a number of materials that we cannot carry since, due to their nature, they need to be treated in a special way to guarantee the necessary security conditions or, simply, they are not correctly separated.

Waste that does not accept a clean point

  • Without separating waste.
  • Organic waste.
  • Tires
  • Radioactive residues.
  • Potentially infectious medical waste.
  • Toxic waste.
  • Containers that have toxic or potentially dangerous material containers, either because of their infectious, radioactive nature or any other.

What about the waste that is deposited at a clean point

You have to keep in mind that The clean point It is an intermediate place between the citizen and the final transformation of the residue. This means that any residue will not be transformed at the clean or ecological point, either to be recycled or to be destroyed. Clean points are places where The various types of waste are collected and cataloged with the aim of facilitating your recycling or subsequent destruction. This will be carried out through public or private companies contracted by the City Council in question, which will deal with collecting waste and transporting them to the corresponding treatment plant as the case and nature of the waste is.

In this way, efficiency in waste collection and management services is improved. After all, the ecological, clean or green point is a place designed so that the citizen on foot has at their disposal in a easily and comfortable way to get rid of all the waste it generates and that would not enter into what we could consider “daily garbage.”

It is, therefore, an installation designed precisely for Facilitate waste recycling and management That, without needing to be treated exceptionally, it is true that they cannot be thrown into the garbage can like most of the garbage that occurs in a domestic environment.

What is a clean point and what is it for - what about the waste that is deposited at a clean point

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Kyle Muller
About the author
Dr. Kyle Muller
Dr. Kyle Mueller is a Research Analyst at the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department in Houston, Texas. He earned his Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from Texas State University in 2019, where his dissertation was supervised by Dr. Scott Bowman. Dr. Mueller's research focuses on juvenile justice policies and evidence-based interventions aimed at reducing recidivism among youth offenders. His work has been instrumental in shaping data-driven strategies within the juvenile justice system, emphasizing rehabilitation and community engagement.
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