The most important information (click to go)
This is one of Wroclaw's responses to new nationwide regulations that introduce textiles as a new waste fraction from the beginning of 2025.
SZOT in Wroclaw
SZOT is a pilot project that will help understand better the needs of residents. At this point, it will run for six months. Cars marked 'SZOT' will move throughout the city in four sectors, just like SZOP. They will arrive in the afternoon, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. The QR code on the car is an important issue.
Alicja Czyżewska-Kania, spokesperson for Ekosystem: 'Under this code, you can check the rules of this picking-up tour, what the timetable is and complete the survey. This survey is a key issue for us, as it allows us to examine how residents manage their used clothes and textiles.
‘You can hand over two 120-litre bags of used garments or clothes to such a vehicle. These materials will be submitted for testing to see what the stream is really like – whether there are clothes that may have been given a second life, or whether there are damaged, torn or stained garments. And the items that have been marked as waste will be managed appropriately. This pilot project will allow us to observe what kind of problem textile waste is for residents and what we can do to make their lives easier,’ the spokesperson explains.
The questions in the survey mainly concern the management of clothes and used textiles, but we can also test our knowledge of waste separation there.
Alicja Czyżewska-Kania: ‘We want to launch a new kind of education addressed to adults, young people and seniors. There are wastes that can really be problematic, such as baking paper, which is called paper, or a milk carton, which is called cardboard, although it is absolutely not cardboard, but plastic, so it should go to the yellow bin. We want to help residents get to grips with it, because once we grasp certain relationships in segregation, it will come naturally and become a routine in our daily lives.’
What can be handed over to SZOT?
What is textile waste?
‘These are all kinds of fabrics, such as curtains, blankets or drapes. They can also include old sheets, leather goods, shoes, clothing. Anything we could actually wear. What appears to be a fabric in touch, is textile waste. Handbags, wallets, belts – these are also textile waste if they are damaged and unusable,’ explains Alicja Czyżewska-Kania.
‘And if they are usable and not destroyed, they are raw materials that can still be used and given a new life,’ she adds.
The first SZOTs will ride onto the streets of Wroclaw today, i.e. on 5th February, at 2 p.m. They can be found in four parts of the city (Old Town, Krzyki, Fabryczna, Psie Pole). The exact locations are stated in the schedule - here.
However, before you give something to SZOT, consider whether anyone else could benefit from it.
Alicja Czyżewska-Kania: 'The best way to prolong the life of clothes is to share them with others. We encourage everyone to organise neighbourhood swaps of things that might be useful to someone else on the occasion of SZOT’s visit. It is also an opportunity for estate councils and real property managers to inform their residents about the campaign. Ekosystem has made a ready poster available on its website. It can be downloaded, supplemented with local information and posted in a visible place.
Extended hours of PSZOKs and a new point
Usable garments can be handed over to charity and aid organisations (e.g. Polish Red Cross containers). If they are no longer of use, you can hand them over to a PSZOK facility. In Wroclaw, these institutions are located at Michalczyka and Janowska streets. Work is well underway on the launch of a third one at Szwajcarska Street.
Paweł Karpiński, CEO of Ekosystem: ‘At the beginning of February, we extended the opening hours of both PSZOKs - on weekdays until 6 p.m. From April, they will be open on weekdays until 7 p.m. This is a welcome convenience for inhabitants.
The current operating hours of PSZOKs in Wroclaw:
- PSZOK at 9 Michalczyka Street is open between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday to Friday and between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays;
- PSZOK at 51 Janowska Street is open between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. from Monday to Friday and between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
