National Trash Can Count Day

Research from the National Trash Can Count Day 2024 shows that 3.1% of the undamaged bins were overflowing and that the problem of looted bins is mainly concentrated in large cities. Amsterdam was an outlier with 15% broken or looted bins, while this problem hardly occurred outside the big cities. Since the introduction of the deposit on cans, the number of plundered bins may have decreased, although there is no historical data to compare this with.

Overflowing trash cans:
Of all undamaged trash cans, 3.1% were overflowing.

Looted trash cans:
The problem of looted trash cans is largely an issue in big cities. In Amsterdam, 15% of the photographed bins were broken or open.

Location dependence:
The problem of looted trash cans is highly location-specific and hardly occurs outside the major cities.

Possible influence of the deposit system:
The introduction of a deposit on cans may have contributed to a decrease in the number of looted trash cans, although there is no comparison data to be certain.

How the counts were collected:
The data were collected by taking photos of trash cans, documenting broken and open bins as well as overflowing bins.

In total, 6,807 photos from 77 cities and towns were submitted.