Too much incorrect waste - thousands of organic waste garbage cans are left standing

Plastic bags, stones or ashes have no place in organic waste garbage cans, but are still found there time and time again. Waste disposal companies leave such incorrectly filled garbage cans when emptying them - and this happens many thousands of times a year in Saxony, according to an inquiry with the companies. Some waste disposal companies report that the stricter regulations for organic waste garbage cans since May have led to people being more careful with their waste.

In Leipzig alone, the city's waste disposal service does not take around 10,000 organic waste garbage cans every year because they contain too much foreign matter, according to spokesperson Claudia Ballhause. This is checked by "visual inspection" - the employees take a look inside the garbage can.

Special emptying costs extra

Ballhause explained that a sticker or banderole is then used to explain why the garbage can has been left behind. Citizens can then either fish the wrong waste out of the garbage can and have it emptied the next time, or they can opt for a so-called special emptying, which costs extra. Both options are chosen about half the time.

The waste disposal company in the district of Leipzig, KELL GmbH, has only started recording how many incorrectly filled organic waste garbage cans are not taken away this year. According to spokesperson Sandra Fröbel, it is estimated that between 125 and 150 bins are not collected each year. Since the rules were tightened in May, KELL GmbH has emptied 38 organic waste garbage cans separately.

A maximum of three percent foreign matter in organic waste

Since May, the Organic Waste Ordinance has stipulated that the proportion of foreign matter in organic waste must not exceed three percent. This is intended to ensure that the purest possible organic waste ends up in the disposal facilities - and that impurities do not have to be removed at great expense after composting.

The waste advisory service in the state capital of Dresden has since gained the impression that citizens are handling their organic waste more carefully, according to the Office for Urban Greenery and Waste Management. "However, this perception cannot be measured."

Last year, 167 incorrectly filled organic waste garbage cans were disposed of as residual waste in Dresden. In Chemnitz, according to the waste disposal company, 1,600 to 1,700 organic waste garbage cans are left empty every year.

Plastic bags are taboo

All waste disposal companies are calling for only organic materials of animal or plant origin to be thrown into the organic waste garbage can - i.e. food and kitchen waste as well as garden waste. Plastics of any kind - including biodegradable bags - should not be disposed of in organic waste.