Baku, August 24, 2025 — Ahead of COP29, small trash bins appeared across downtown Baku, hailed as a step toward a cleaner, more tourist-friendly city. But now, many of those bins have mysteriously disappeared — leaving residents with no choice but to drop garbage on the ground.
Frustrated citizens claim the removals may be deliberate, a way to boost fines for littering.
City officials point the finger at district housing and communal service units (JCCUs), each responsible for its own territory. Large orange and green dumpsters fall under the city’s main department, while smaller bins are the duty of district structures. “Every JCCU decides how many bins to install in its area,” explained to Kaspi.Az city hall spokesman Metin Huseynov.
Standards require bins every 100 meters — and as close as 50 meters in busy areas like Fountain Square. Yet locals say those rules are ignored.
Urban planner Anar Aliyev stressed the basics: “Trash bins are part of city infrastructure. If you want people not to litter, bins must be within reach — at least every 100 meters.”
Environmentalists warn the rollback is more than a cosmetic issue. “Food waste decomposes quickly, releasing toxic gases and odors. Everything we throw away comes back to us through a polluted environment,” said ecologist Sadig Hasanov, who reminded that Cabinet Decision No. 74 (2005) set stricter standards for parks — bins every 40 meters, and even every 10–50 meters in high-traffic areas.
Lawmakers also weighed in. Rovshan Muradov, MP and member of the ecology committee, suggested some bins may have been stolen or quietly removed. But he was blunt about shared responsibility: “Citizens must keep the city clean regardless. In Japan, smokers carry portable ash containers. Here, people throw sunflower seeds on the ground and call it normal. It’s unacceptable.”
Muradov added that fines alone are not enough — education must come first. “The absence of a bin is not an excuse to litter. Azerbaijan is our home. If we can’t keep our capital clean, what message does that send?”
For now, the mystery remains: were the bins removed due to shortage, negligence, or by design? Whatever the answer, Baku’s residents are left with a simple but pressing question — where to throw the trash?
