Pleven displays bulky waste as a provocation against illegal dumping

The art initiative was begun by the city's mayor, who wants to expose people that try to save on transportation costs by illegally disposing of old furniture or construction materials

Art is rarely ordinary, but this installation in the district city of Pleven, Bulgaria, can pass as nothing short of eye-catching. The reason: it is far from pleasant to the eye being composed of bulky waste collected in the course of only one day in the city.

The initiative to create such an art installation belongs to Mayor Georg Spartanski, who apparently had enough of criticizing the improper discharge of old furniture, sanitary ware, appliances, construction materials, etc and decided to expose the practice publicly. Thus the idea of the provocative exposition, inaugurated on 26 June, took shape in the central Vazrazhdane Square. It will remain there for several days.

The campaign is in partnership with one of the local garbage collection companies.

Keeping a city clean is a responsibility of the entire community

By doing this, Spartanski wants to “emphasize the irresponsibility of a number of our fellow citizens, who do not respect the basic rules to treat such a waste”. Namely, they fail to rent a container (available at an affordable price) after carrying out repairs at home and leave it to professional companies to transport and treat the waste.

Alternatively, for smaller amounts, one can transport the waste to one of several big-sized containers, where bulky waste can be discharged for free.

Spartanski explained, quoted by Bulgarian News Agency, that he wanted to build public intolerance against such blatant acts and to provoke his fellow citizens to be more active in reporting them, wherever they observe them. This will allow the Municipality to sanction the perpetrators and make them pay for cleaning.

He informed that last year alone the City of Pleven had paid over BGN 570,000 (292,000 euros) from its budget for the disposal of unregulated landfills – an amount that could easily have gone to renovations, construction of playgrounds or outdoor gyms.

He added that for many years the municipal government had been fighting against the violators of cleanliness in the city and that it was impossible to put cameras on every garbage container.