June the 29th, 2022 - Respected architect Igor Ekstajn has come up with an innovative idea with which we might solve the City of Zagreb's continuing issues with waste removal and disposal - all based on an American city.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, architect Igor Ekstajn recently spoke about the continuing waste problems being faced by the the City of Zagreb during an episode of N1 Newsnight. He commented on how the problem of waste disposal in Zagreb could be solved based on the American city of Boston's model.

“The most elegant solution is for us not to simply let this rubbish pile up in public spaces: many of the City of Zagreb's buildings have been designed to have waste disposal rooms on the ground floor (in the basement). Family houses have gardens attached to them where rubbish containers can be stored. The principle is that this rubbish is then sorted and separated on the plot of a residential building or house, and then is collected at a certain time when Cistoca (the communal service company responsible for waste removal) will come and pick up the rubbish to take it away, I think that is the most elegant way to deal with this. That way, there's no presence of these containers and as such, rubbish, in the city's public spaces,'' architect Igor Ekstajn explained.

The local Zagreb Government has postponed the implementation of a new waste separation model, and Ekstajn commented that waste collection is regulated in Boston.

“In Boston, buildings have rooms on the ground floor/basement where the rubbish is separated. The manager of the building is obliged to take the containers out onto the street once a week and then the binmen come and pick up the containers,'' said the architect.

He also commented on the possible construction of social housing in the City of Zagreb, stating that these residential buildings should not simply be built in the cheapest locations possible.

"This should be thought of as point construction in several different locations and thus the stigmatisation of people living in such apartments will be gradually eliminated. Secondly, the city will have a more even and better population structure,'' the architect explained, adding that Gredelj should be considered as a space with great potential.

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