Sonthofen - The German Environmental Aid (DUH) recognized the Sonthofen recycling center as the winner of the “Green Recycling Center” competition.
The recycling center of the Zweckverband für Abfallwirtschaft Kempten (ZAK), which was newly opened in 2020, impressed with its modern overall picture, an attractive service concept and great commitment to promoting reuse in the "Rural Region" category.
In 2020, DUH started the “Green Recycling Center” competition to draw attention to the importance of environmentally friendly recycling center concepts and to initiate extensive improvements.
ZAK: waste prevention and recycling
“Apart from a few take-back obligations on the part of retailers, recycling centers are the only central point of contact for citizens to return recyclable materials.
You have the first access to disused products and materials.
They thus form the basis for the collection of products and valuable materials for reuse or environmentally friendly recycling.
Achieving goals for waste avoidance, reuse, recycling of municipal waste and climate protection will not be possible without excellent municipal recycling.
It is therefore all the more important that actors such as the Sonthofen Recycling Center show how a modern and citizen-oriented recycling concept can make the maximum contribution to resource and climate protection.
"Green recycling center"
We are honoring this exemplary commitment with the award of the Green Recycling Center Prize, ”said Deputy DUH Federal Manager Barbara Metz.
The Sonthofen Recycling Center promotes waste avoidance with the affiliated “ZAK department store”, in which old products are separated, repaired and re-sold on a large scale.
Citizens are offered a wide range of services thanks to a modern guidance system, extensive roofing and a pick-up service for their homes.
Joy about the award
The environmentally friendly construction of the building and a photovoltaic system round off the overall ecological concept of the recycling center.
An important contact point was created for the rural Oberallgäu, which combines waste disposal with education and invites you to linger.
“We are very pleased about the award from Deutsche Umwelthilfe and the associated confirmation of our environmental concept.
The ZAK has been working for many years to put sustainability into practice at all levels.
Repair café and educational program
Our goal is to make a concrete contribution to more reuse and to raise awareness of how to avoid waste.
As soon as the infection rate allows, we want to offer a comprehensive educational program and regular repair cafés in our recycling center, ”says Gebhard Kaiser, Chairman of the ZAK Supervisory Board.
With the “Green Recycling Center” competition, the DUH would like to offer municipalities an orientation with regard to environmentally friendly recycling center concepts. Other winners of the competition are the reverse consumption center in Mettlach, the ZAK-Wertstoffhof Kapiteltal Kaiserslautern and the waste disposal center in Herne. In this selection, different regional structures were taken into account through different categories.
