The Belgian city of Ghent is piloting a new design of glass recycling container fitted with double-walled, polyurethane-insulated barriers and a fast-closing drop flap intended to reduce noise when bottles are deposited. The trial, run by waste collector IVAGO across four locations in the city's suburbs, comes a year after Ghent reintroduced communal bottle banks for around 50,000 households in its outer districts — a move that saved the city €400,000 annually but prompted complaints about noise and disruption. If the new design proves effective, authorities say they plan to roll it out more widely, though some residents remain frustrated, citing a lack of prior consultation about the changes.