Muscat to do away with garbage bins from next year 

(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Muscat Municipality is planning to remove big garbage bins from the streets and replace them with specially-designed bins for home use. According to the municipality, the refuse will be collected directly from houses by its workers from the beginning of next year.A municipality official said that personal hygiene has become a major concern for people and this new measure is expected to minimise the adverse effects of garbage disposal in open bins. ''The new waste collection system will ensure a clean city as many of the existing bins normally overflow, thereby polluting the vicinity,'' the official said.Under the new system, garbage will be collected in specially-designed bags from homes. ''These bags will be taken away every morning by municipality workers and transported to dumping yards. Residents will be asked to leave the bins outside their homes before 5am every day for the garbage collectors to collect the bags.''The municipality had recently placed the new bins at several houses in Mawaleh and Azaiba. ''We have recently started the new system on a trial basis. Now, we will start implementing the project in other parts of Muscat beginning January 2013.''He said that Saturdays and Tuesdays will be reserved for large sized waste such as electronics, trees, unwanted furniture and others. ''We will inform residents about the days once the system is in place.''In another step to streamline garbage collection in the city, the municipality had earlier installed three separate bins on beaches to segregate trash. ''The bins - one each for drink cans, glass and plastic bottles, and paper - have created awareness among citizens and residents alike to promote recycling in a big way.''