Several thousand tons of bulky waste come together in Munich every year.
This ends up in the city's recycling centers.
The crowd increased during Corona.
Munich - I'm fascinated by how the recycling press crushes a plush sofa.
I have to push with the spade.
Dominik Panzer (52) instructs me.
The master for recycling waste management and urban cleaning at the recycling center in Freimann * explains to me today where the old household items of the Munich residents go to.
It's unbelievable how much usable is still under the junk!
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Every Munich resident produces an average of 14 kilos of bulky waste per year
Any help for the couch comes too late - it has had its day and will be burned.
Like around 21,200 tons of bulky waste that Munich residents * drop off at the city's twelve recycling centers every year.
About 14 kilos per head.
In 2020 it should have been even more: According to AWM, the amount of bulky waste that was disposed of at farms rose by 20 to 30 percent during the pandemic *.
“The bulky waste is thermally recycled.
Electricity is generated, ”says Panzer.
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Tinkering with the waste compactor with recycling center foreman Dominik Panzer: The bulky waste delivered is compressed and incinerated.
© Astrid Schmidhuber
But it is best when garbage is not produced in the first place.
“Our ultimate goal is to avoid waste,” emphasizes Panzer.
The people of Munich are far from that.
“We are a throwaway society.” More and more new devices end up in the orange steel containers of the recycling center.
Cell phones, washing machines, televisions.
“A container like this will easily be full in a week,” reports the recycling center foreman.
In some cases, highly toxic substances are handed in to the Munich recycling depots
Because new models are constantly coming out, especially in entertainment electronics, old things are often thrown away straight away.
Around 1,300 tons of televisions alone are delivered to the city's recycling centers in one year.
The employees organize the scrap and separate the useful from the defective.
What is still in good shape is sold again - I already have an appointment in the AWM used goods department store in Hall 2 in Pasing.
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In the problem substance assumption, chemical technician Dominik Kolb explains how substances are tested.
© Astrid Schmidhuber
While it is rumbling and cracking outside in the yard, Dominik Kolb (38) approaches the garbage with tweezers and litmus paper in the problem area.
This shows the pH value - one of the tests that tells the chemical technician how dangerous a substance is.
“We often get containers where we don't know what's inside,” says Kolb.
Some of these are highly toxic substances.
“Many are old stocks from wartime.” For example red phosphorus.
“If it burns, then really well.
It used to be used to build incendiary bombs. ”An old lady once brought six kilos of mercury in liquid form.
The chemicals are professionally disposed of by the Bavarian Hazardous Waste Disposal (GSB).
Old cleaning agents can also be dangerous
Even old cleaning agents can be tough.
The chemical technician shows me an inconspicuous tube with the inscription "Rust devil".
It contains a small amount of hydrofluoric acid.
"Hydrofluoric acid can dissolve glass and burn bones if it gets on the skin," says the 38-year-old.
Not a nice idea.
Quickly back to the poison cabinet - and out into the air, where my last official act is waiting for me: I am allowed to dispose of helium bottles.
The colorful things are still pretty heavy even when empty.
On the way back, I stop by the drop-off point for Hall 2.
I notice a stately cuddly vulture from Steiff - I would buy it right away.
Daniela Pohl * tz.de / muenchen is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
