Rubbish Collection in Fuerteventura

Here in Fuerteventura we don’t have wheelie bins and a weekly or fortnightly rubbish collection.  This is the case in many northern European countries.  Instead we have large bins positioned in most streets are emptied overnight every day, except Sunday. There are also strategically placed recycling bins for paper, glass, cardboard etc around each town/village. I actually think the system works much better here.

In order that the bins don’t smell too much by being full in the heat all day you can only throw rubbish in them at certain times. These are between 20:00 and 02:00 hours from October to March and 21:00 to 02:00 hours from April to September. Not unreasonably, the waste must be in a closed bag when it is put in the bins.

If you are spotted by the local police (wardens with guns) throwing your rubbish in the bins outside of these times you can get a fine of up to 3,000€ . Well, if you aren’t a local that is of course! 

I can just imagine what my colleagues and I would have said to the Police if we were told we had to fine people throwing rubbish in bins outside of certain hours!

Mind you, it seems it is ok for rubbish put in the bin on Saturday evening to sit in a hot bin all day on Sunday, getting smelly until it is emptied on Monday morning.

During 2016  295 fines were issued in Corralejo; 6 in El Cotillo; 2 in Lajares; 1 in Parque Holandés and Villaverde.

The Mayor, Pedro Amador, said “We live in a paradise that we must care for, a land that is visited every day by thousands of tourists, we must continue to give our best image.”