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Type what you’re throwing out — it tells you which bag or cart it goes in.
(2 months ago)
Košice sorts household waste into five street streams collected by KOSIT. Search anything below to see where it goes — and why the brown bin sometimes gets left full.
The streams
Zmesový odpad — mixed waste
Whatever can't be sorted: hygiene items, nappies, soiled and greasy paper, broken drinking glasses in small amounts, dust and sweepings.
Papier — blue container
Newspapers, magazines, flyers, cardboard boxes (flattened), office paper, envelopes, notebooks, egg cartons. Not wet, soiled or greasy paper, napkins, or the plastic-lined part of drink cartons.
Plasty, kovy a nápojové kartóny — yellow container
One combined stream in Košice: plastic bottles and packaging, yoghurt pots and lids, drink cans, metal packaging, foil, and milk/juice cartons — rinsed enough not to smell and squashed flat. Not packaging from chemicals, oils or paint.
Sklo — green container
Non-returnable bottles and jars of any colour, drinking glasses, glass decorations — metal lids off and into yellow. Not mirrors, window or car glass, porcelain, ceramics, light bulbs, or chemical bottles.
Špeciálny zber — shops and collection yards
Things that never belong in any street container: batteries, electronics, light bulbs, paint, chemicals, used cooking oil, tyres. Shops take back batteries, bulbs and electro; everything else goes to a zberný dvor.
Kuchynský bioodpad — brown container
Food scraps, peelings, coffee grounds, tea bags, eggshells, spoiled fruit and vegetables, small bones. Loose, or in a paper or certified compostable bag — never in an ordinary plastic bag. No liquids and no large bones.
The full list, bin by bin
Zmesový odpad — mixed waste
Pizza box — Greasy paper can't be recycled — a clean lid can be torn off into paper.
Paper napkin
Receipt — Thermal paper doesn't belong with recyclable paper.
Mirror — Mirror and window glass are technical glass — larger pieces go to a collection yard.
Window glass — Take larger amounts to a zberný dvor.
Porcelain plate
Large bones — KOSIT's bio guide excludes large bones from the brown container.
Nappy
Clothes — Wearable textiles do more good in the charity containers around the estates or at a zberný dvor.
Papier — blue container
Newspaper
Cardboard box — Flatten it — a whole box fills the container for everyone.
Office paper
Egg carton
Plasty, kovy a nápojové kartóny — yellow container
A plastic bag can get the whole brown bin refused
KOSIT crews check the brown kitchen-waste containers, and when contamination is too high — typically food tipped in inside plastic bags — the bin is left unemptied until the next mixed-waste round. That is the usual story behind a full, smelly brown bin in summer. Tip food in loose, or use paper or certified compostable bags.
Pickup days are by street
Collection calendars are organised by street and mestská časť on kosit.sk, and the free KOSIT Online app shows the calendar for your address. Overflowing or skipped containers: call KOSIT free on 0800 156 748 (weekdays 8:00–16:00).
Not the curb — these go to a depot
Zberné dvory — collection yards
Bulky waste, electro, hazardous waste (paint, oil), construction debris and larger green loads go to KOSIT's collection yards; locations and opening hours are on kosit.sk.
The last word
The city's waste collector — sorting guides, street calendars and the KOSIT Online app.