The City of Linz – modernised litter system in the city centre

A clean urban environment is a crucial aspect in ensuring a high quality of life. Linz, the state capital of Upper Austria, is dedicated to keeping its public spaces as clean as possible. To improve the quality of waste disposal for both residents and visitors in the city centre, the local council’s Urban Greenery and Street Services department has been gradually switching to the Littershark system over the past two years.

With a length of 1.3 kilometres, Landstrasse is the longest shopping street in Linz. And with around 236,000 pedestrians counted each week, it is the third-busiest street in the whole of Austria. Keeping the city clean and tidy is therefore a top priority. And it’s equally important for the public transport operator Linz Linien GmbH, as several tram lines run through this central city axis. Since 2020, the old bins at the stops along Landstrasse, on Linz’s main square and in other strategic locations in the Old Town are being gradually replaced with the Littershark disposal solutions.

 

The department responsible at the local council, Urban Greenery and Street Services, was keen to find a modern replacement: ‘We closely observed the Littershark system in action in Vienna, before testing two models of the bins here in Linz,’ explains team leader Ewald Ehrl. Today, a total of 85 Littershark units with a capacity of 70 litres each are installed. In addition, seven Big Sharks with a capacity of 220 litres are positioned along Landstrasse, where they efficiently ‘devour’ litter and rubbish. To keep the city centre even cleaner, all Littershark units are equipped with an ashtray module that can hold a large volume of ash and cigarettes (up to 12 litres).

 

In Linz city centre, more than 90 Littersharks of different models – including the ones seen here in a prominent location near the Holy Trinity Column – play a big part in keeping the urban environmen

Linz regularly makes use of a special service provided by Littershark: The team visits the bins in its Shark Cleaning Mobile to carry out professional cleaning, maintenance and minor repairs. Cleaning of the bins by the Littershark cleaning service has become an essential annual routine, as it saves the council staff a great deal of time and effort.

Environmental councillor Eva Schobesberger, who is responsible for the city’s cleaning operations, is happy with the new disposal concept: ‘Public spaces need to be attractive and accessible to everyone. This also means we must be considerate of each other and treat shared spaces with respect. After all, the city should serve as a living room for us all,’ she says. The city has achieved this with its modern waste disposal solution. A budget has already been set aside for more Littersharks to further expand the waste disposal concept throughout the city in the coming year.

 

City of Linz

"In Vienna, we were able to take a closer look at the waste shark system for the first time, after which we had a test phase with two of the manufacturer's models," explains team leader Ewald Ehrl.

Facts about the project and the customer

  • annual shark cleaning

  • busiest street in Austria with 236,000 pedestrians per week

  • Littersharks with ashtray module

  • Test phase with 2 Littersharks completed

Markus Missbichler, Linz Linien

The decision to purchase these new litter bins was prompted by the fact that our old stainless steel bins no were longer working properly and replacement parts were either no longer available or too expensive.

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