For people living in one- and two-family houses
It will now become easier for you to recycle. If you live in a one- or two-family house you will be able to sort and leave your packaging in the four-compartment bins close to your home instead of taking it to a recycling station. The system will be introduced gradually in Skellefteå municipality starting in March 2025.
The new system means that the municipality, in addition to collecting residual and food waste, will also collect your paper packaging, plastic packaging, metal packaging, newspapers and recycled paper as well as colored and uncolored glass.
The only packaging you need to take care of yourself is the large "rare packaging" that is left from when you buy furniture, for example. Recycling stations will still be available for this packaging.
If you live in a one- or two-family house but are part of a community association, you will likely not get the four-compartment bins. You can read more about what applies to you on the page for multi-family homes by clicking on the green button below.
The two four-compartment bins.
How to sort in the new bins
Instead of your current residual and food waste bins, you will receive two new bins, each with four compartments. You will sort packaging in the same way as you do at a recycling center today. You will also continue to put food waste in paper bags and residual waste in a garbage bag.
One bin is emptied every two weeks and is therefore called 2. This is where you sort: food waste, paper packaging, colored glass and newspapers.
The other bin is emptied every four weeks and is therefore called 4. In it you sort: residual waste, plastic packaging, uncolored glass and metal.
You need to make sure you have space for two four-compartment bins in width where the garbage truck will pick them up and empty them. Each bin is 110 cm tall, 77 cm wide and 82 cm deep, so the storage area needs to be 180 cm wide and 100 cm deep.
We will start delivering the new bins in March 2025 starting with those living living in the city, then moving outwards towards the towns and the countryside. We will be done delivering the bins by summer.
You will receive a letter in the mail or via Kivra when it's your time to get your bin.
At the same time as you receive your new bins, we will collect the old ones so that you can start using the new ones immediately.
Once you have received your new bins, your emptying schedule will also be updated. You can subscribe to the emptying schedule by adding it to your cellphone or computer calendar. You will then receive a reminder the evening before emptying. It will also tell you which bin to put out.
You can subscribe to the schedule now - when your address is updated in our system, your calendar will also be updated.
When is the garbage emptied?
Search for the address you want to see the schedule for
In 2022, the Swedish government decided that on-site collection should be introduced in the coming years and that the municipalities should be responsible for collecting the packaging, instead of the producers.
The reasons behind the decision:
- Meeting EU requirements and high targets for material recycling by 2030.
- Making waste management more efficient.
- Making it easier to do the right thing; experience shows that more packaging will be sent to recycling instead of ending up in residual waste.
Skellefteå municipality investigated the various options available and decided that four-compartment bins should be used.
The producers will compensate the municipalities for the collection and recycling of the packaging.
Q&A about the four-compartment bins
Q&A about the four-compartment bins
One bin will be emptied every two weeks. The other will be emptied every four weeks.
In the one that is emptied every two weeks, you will sort out food waste, paper packaging, colored glass and recycled paper (newspapers and paper).
In the bin emptied every four weeks, you will sort out residual waste, plastic packaging, uncolored glass and metal packaging.
No, you can't, but you can subscribe to an extra bin if you have a larger amount of waste och packaging.
Yes, according to the statistics available. Of course, there will be individual needs, which means that some bins will be full faster than others. It is possible to order extra bins. Read more in other questions and answers about extra bins.
Paper packaging is collected every two weeks and plastic packaging every four weeks.
If you run out of space at every collection, you'll need to subscribe to an extra bin.
The recycling stations as they are now will remain in place until 2026. After that, they will be for larger packaging, such as the kind you get when you buy a TV or large piece of furniture.
It is possible to subscribe to extra bins. As we are a fee-financed activity (not tax money), we cannot make exceptions or give grants, but we must be guided by the tariff that has been decided. Read more here about the costs for extra containers:
Regler och avgifter för avfall i en- och tvåfamiljshus - Skellefteå kommun
External link.
There are two bins, each holding 370 liters. They are 110 cm tall, 77 cm wide and 82 cm deep. The different compartments in the bin have different sizes.
The bin that is emptied every two weeks: food waste 118 l, paper packaging 177 l, colored glass 30 l, newspapers and paper 45 l.
The bin that is emptied every four weeks: residual waste 155 l, plastic packaging 140 l, uncolored glass 45 l, metal 30 l.
They will hold more. Food and residual waste will be disposed of in separate bins, but the volume of these two bins together will be larger than before.
Each bin is 110 cm tall, 77 cm wide and 82 cm deep, so you will need a surface that is 180 cm wide and 100 cm deep.
No, the standard subscription for the four-compartment bins where one bin is emptied once every two weeks and one bin is emptied every four weeks costs the same as the standard subscription with a green 140 L residual waste bin and a 140 L food waste bin emptied every two weeks.
You can see the current tariff here:
For the time being, they will remain, but in the long term we will not need as many. Therefore, some will be phased out.
Yes, for those living in one- and two-family houses in the municipality. We will start delivering the bins to those living in the city first, then move outwards towards the towns and the countryside.
No, unfortunately it is not adapted for the four-compartment bins, only for the smaller brown food waste containers.
No, the new bins are mandatory. When we deliver them we will also collect your old ones.
No, the bins come in pairs. You need both bins to be able to recycle all your waste.
Yes. It must be a compost that has been applied for and approved by the environmental authority. By default, you get a regular subscription with the four-bin containers and can keep your compost but also leave food waste in the four-bin container. Another option for those with approved compost is to apply for an extended collection interval for both bins every 4 or 8 weeks. In this case, you may not place any food waste in the four-bin container. See more under tariffs for four-bin containers
Yes, four-compartment bins are currently used in more than 70 other municipalities, many have had them for several years. There is a lot of experience and knowledge to draw from.
Härnösand is the municipality farthest to the north that uses the bins.
You will be able to sort and dispose of food and residual waste, paper, plastic, glass and metal packaging and recycled paper. Read more about recycling here:
The garbage truck has separate compartments in the emptying cabine, in the same way as in the bin. None of the different compartments are mixed in the truck.
The plan is to start with summer homes in the summer of 2026. There will be a collection station in most places where you will be able to leave packaging, newspapers, food and residual waste. Probably in the same place where you already leave food and residual waste.
No, you are not allowed to do this. The garbage truck can't empty the bins correctly that way and has to leave them unemptied. The garbage truck has four compartments for collecting and needs to be able to empty the right waste in the right compartment.
You should put the new bins in the same place as your current bins.
This is a good guide for how to recycle different kinds of waste and packaging:
Four benefits of four-compartment bins
Four benefits of four-compartment bins
- It’s easy to sort correctly with four-compartment bins! This is probably the reason why recycling has increased in municipalities that have already introduced the four-compartment system.
- Now, waste travels collectively – you don’t need to drive your waste to a recycling station as often.
- You don’t have to store packaging and newspapers in your storage or garage at home while waiting for the next trip to the recycling station, as you can now throw them into bins directly on your property.
- When sorting becomes easier, more packaging is recycled, which reduces the environmental impact as less residual waste goes to incineration.