Plastic bottles once filled with household cleaners, cans of empty shaving gel, old clothes and glass seem to be the norm instead of the exception. The waste is first sorted automatically and then by hand. Joachim Schölzel, spokesperson for the waste authorities in Rhine-Sieg, says the problem has become even worse over the past couple years. He said they have attempted to explain to people that they should not put their food waste in plastic bags, and then in the organic waste bins because the plastic will not break down into compost. Plastic bags or any type of plastic are banned from the organic waste bins, and he said that includes bags that are sold as compostable ones because they cannot decompose quickly enough.

Trying to get the problem under control, waste authorities decided to examine the garbage three months during Spring and two months during Fall. Schölzel said the results were sobering. After a first warning, those who continued to put the wrong garbage in their bins received a sticker on their bin and they were not emptied anymore. Some of the offenders were sheepish about their mistakes and others were quick to offer excuses, but the action didn’t result in an improvement of the situation.

In the coming weeks, waste disposal workers will be checking the bins, and leaving a warning on bins which do not adhere to regulations. Those bins will be left unemptied. Sorting the garbage of the 600,000 people in Rhine-Sieg county has become too cumbersome and expensive, and authorities felt the need to act. A major problem is also the ads delivered to your mailbox in plastic wrappers. Both the plastic wrap and the paper seem to make their into the paper bins.

(Orig. text: Thomas Heinemann)