After the frost: What happens to the grit in Saxony

It crunches and crumbles with every step: along with snow and ice, plenty of grit also finds its way onto our roads and sidewalks. A wide variety of gritting materials are used in Saxony's municipalities - but what happens to them after the winter?

Granulates to prevent slipping

In addition to salt, grit and brine, the largest municipalities in Saxony rely on heat-treated granulates. In the city of Leipzig, so-called expanded shale is mainly used for gritting, as the city's cleaning department reported on request. The city of Dresden, on the other hand, uses expanded clay: "This material has a particularly good grip and is very suitable for increasing road safety on roads and paths in icy winter conditions," explains Susanne Kirsch from Stadtreinigung Dresden GmbH.

Stadtreinigung is responsible for around 30 percent of the winter road maintenance network in the state capital. Since 28 December 2025, it has spread around 90 cubic meters of expanded clay on the streets of Dresden. This corresponds to a filled 30 square meter room with three meter high ceilings.

Like local authorities, property owners are also obliged to keep sidewalks slip-free. Like the state capital, the municipal Leipziger Wohnungs- und Baugesellschaft uses expanded clay for this purpose, as it reported on request. According to the company, around 40 cubic meters of the granulate have been ordered for the winter.

In many places, gritting material is not reused

When the frost is over, the grit is swept up by the regular street cleaning machines, explain the city cleaning services in Dresden and Leipzig. However, none of this can be reused.

The grit loses its structure and quality when mixed with dust, leaves and soil, explains Dresden's municipal cleaning service. "This simply makes reprocessing uneconomical," says the spokesperson for Leipziger Wohnungs- und Baugesellschaft. The mechanical stresses do the rest, so that the gritting material is no longer roadworthy, according to the Dresden street cleaning service.

Reuse possible in principle

A spokesperson for the State Office for the Environment, Agriculture and Geology in Saxony said that it is possible in principle to reuse the gritting material. "However, due to contamination with heavy metals, plastics and other microparticles, the material must be treated before it can be reused," reports Falk Hofer from the state office. The State Environment Agency has no information on which Saxon municipalities reuse their grit.