Amsterdam installs eco urinals that look like planters in city centre to combat ‘wild peeing’
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Amsterdam installs sustainable urinals that look like traditional planters in city centre to combat problem of ‘wild peeing’
- Amsterdam’s council has had 12 GreenPees installed in city’s tourist hot spots
- Urinals double as planters, providing an eco-friendly solution to public urination
- The innovative design, which saw a 50% reduction in wild peeing, uses less water than normal urinals and urine is collected and used to create fertiliser
The city of Amsterdam has found an innovative way to tackle the age old problem of public urination.
The city council has installed 12 special plant pots that double up as urinals spread across tourist hot spots including the Red Light District, Rembrandtplein and Leidseplein.
The planters, called GreenPees, serve a duel purpose, providing late night revellers with a place to relieve themselves if they are caught short while the urine is collected and used to make fertiliser.
The Dutch company behind GreenPees already supplies the bold invention to three other cities in the Netherlands and one city in Belgium.
GreenPees, pictured, have been installed in tourist hot spots across Amsterdam to combat public urination in a sustainable and eco-friendly way as urine is collected to make fertiliser
Designed by a Dutch company, there are 12 of these discrete urinals in Amsterdam and they are also installed in Vlaardingen and Beekbergen, as well as Mechelen and Genk in Belgium
Inventor Richard de Vries said the company worked on a pilot project with the city back in 2018 which saw four GreenPees installed and reduced ‘wild peeing’ by 50 per cent.
He added: ‘Peeing against a wall is going to damage historic buildings.
‘It is dirty, unhygienic and attracts flies. We came up with the idea of a planter to help keep the city green and provide something we can make fertiliser from.’
Mr de Vries says the planters are odour free, use less water than traditional urinals and all the urine is regularly collected from the planters for processing and phosphate harvesting.
Rembrandtplein (pictured) is one of the popular tourist spots to feature a GreenPees urinal
Amsterdam’s council reportedly invested the equivalent of £50,000 in the project as the city eases back to normality during the pandemic.
The latest models have been adjusted based on feedback from the first four with added privacy and more openings to pee in.
The company also designed a special, slimmer model that can be placed in narrow alleyways.
GreenPees can also be found in Dutch cities Vlaardingen and Beekbergen, as well as Mechelen and Genk in Belgium.
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