Why are wheelie bins half-buried in parts of Luxembourg?

Question

Walking around a residential area in Luxembourg, I noticed that each home had their wheelie bin for general rubbish in the front yard strangely placed in a neat, concrete-lined pit.

It wasn't everywhere in Luxembourg, but nor was it just one home-owner - I saw at least 20 properties in a row that had it, suggesting it was a local ordinance rather than a personal choice.

I have shown this photo to many Europeans, who have expressed surprise and come up with many wild speculations, but I haven't found a Luxembourger to explain the practice.

Why are the rubbish bins "buried" in this way?

Answer 1

Short answer, they are not.

It's something specific to that house.

Edit: I'm from Luxembourg and have never seen this, or perhaps only in isolated cases. It's certainly nothing national.

Answer 2

The houses in this area are pretty small. Some even don't have a garage and neither or a cave that is accessible from outside. Even those houses with a garage are small and storing the dustbin outside saves some space and you are not bothered with bad smells.

Now, letting the dustbins stand outside has two drawbacks:

1. It does not look very nice if you see dustbins all over the place. The landscpae looks much nicer when the bins are buried.

2. These dustbins are relatively high and they can easily fall down when there is heavy wind or when children playing outside (or drunkards walking by) crash into them.

Partially burying the bins solves these problems. And the bins remain accessible.

This may sound weird, but as I said in a comment above, the "phenomenon" is localized to some streets that have been urbanized some 35 years age. If you go to other areas in Luxembourg-Kirchbegr, you will see that they came up with other solutions.