Recycling

(Don’t forget to pay your yearly waste tax. More info about that in this guide.)

Recycling

Currently, recycling is not compulsory in Brno but it’s very much encouraged by the local authorities.

To find out where your waste should go, use this simple app – it’ll show you the closest spot on the map.

Or read this list of things to sort from your waste, and where to put them:

• glass – one of the three most straightforward things to recycle in Brno. You must have noticed the green and white bins (for coloured and clear glass) at the end of nearly every road. See the map here. To the clear glass bins belong colourless jars from jams, preserves and ketchup (without food residues and liquids), broken glasses, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage bottles. Stained glass includes alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage bottles, coloured glass, plate glass from windows and doors, even if clear. Also in some supermarkets, such as Kaufland, you can take your returnable brown bottles back and get vouchers to use in the shop. Be careful not to put in ceramics, pottery and other earthenware, porcelain, car glass, mirrors, safety glass with wires, gilded and plated glass, laboratory chemical glass, borosilicate, cooking glass, glass-ceramic hobs, returnable back-up glass (return to store). Please, do not recycle glass late in the evening or early in the morning as it usually creates noise.

• paper – blue bins. The paper bins take newspapers, magazines, office paper, advertising leaflets, books (without hardcover), notebooks, boxes, cardboard, paper packaging, egg wrappers or toilet paper rolls. Do not mind paper with paper clips, there is no need to remove the foil window from envelopes. However, be careful not to put wet, greasy or otherwise soiled paper, carbon and waxed paper, paper sealed in foil, used nappies and toiletries, used paper towels and tissues or shop receipts.

• plastic – yellow / wire bins. The yellow containers also include metal food packaging: beverage cans of various volumes, canned food packaging, coffee and tea cans, durable food packaging, pet food packaging, yoghurt and cottage cheese lids, foil, food trays, sterilised food lids, small metal packaging. Be careful not to put food residue packaging, dirty polystyrene food transfer trays, packaging from chemicals and hazardous substances, new water pipes, floor coverings, large pieces of polystyrene (belong in waste collection centres).

• clothes – Less frequently you will find white bins marked textil. Keep in mind, that textiles from these bins go to charity, so they cannot be dirty or unusable in any way. Also, Veronica has four such shops that also accept accessories, jewellery, ceramics and porcelain, books, and toys. To the bins, please, only put in plastic bags and otherwise wrapped – clothing, pairs of shoes, toys (soft, hard), handbags, home textiles (curtains, drapes, bed linen, tablecloths), but not wet, moldy, or otherwise soiled clothing, soiled textiles (e.g. with oil, paint or soil), carpets, foam, mattresses, industrial fabric scraps.

• batteries / lightbulbs / electronics – At some supermarkets, you can recycle all of these and more. There are also special containers for electronics that can be found in many areas.

• bulky waste – Such as furniture, can be offered by the Department of Social Welfare to furnish social housing, socially disadvantaged families and citizens who do not have the financial means to furnish a new apartment. See the map here. You can donate all usable furniture, including garden furniture, wooden, metal or plastic tables, desks, chairs, cabinets, chests of drawers, wooden or metal bed frames, shelving systems, cots, playpens, children’s furniture, parasols, etc. Please note for hygiene reasons they do not take upholstered furniture. Fridges and cut tree branches go to waste collection centres.
• old pharmaceuticals – you can take these to any pharmacy (lékárna) to be disposed of.
• kitchen and garden waste – the city has introduced brown bins for organic waste. See the map here for “bioodpad”. What you can or cannot throw in is explained in this article from Brno Daily. If you have a lot of garden or kitchen waste (vegetable matter only) you can take it to one of Sako’s waste collection centres. If you are lucky enough to have a garden, then a compost heap is your answer.  Be aware not everything can go into your compost, as a small one will not reach temperatures that kill certain bacteria, so stick to vegetable matter.

Useful links

• Map of bins and recycling centers in Brno
• Waste sorting in Brno – a comprehensive list of things to sort from your waste in English
• A guide to sorting and recycling in the Czech Republic (4/2022) – A detailed guide on what should be sorted where, in English, by EkoKom – recycling company
• Ekomap – a map showing where to find organic food, ekoflorists, waste collection centres, environmental organisations, nature walks and more.
• Download the mobile application SAKO (available for iOS, Google Play) – this app will help you find the closest paper/plastic/glass disposal containers. If you see them overflowing, the app asks you to take a picture and send it over: they’ll come and empty it ahead of their normal schedule.
• Trash Hero Brno – non-profit organising regular clean-up hauls