Environmental protection is high on the agenda for municipalities.
Wolfratshausen also wants to make a contribution.
There is progress - and there is still a lot of potential.
Wolfratshausen - environmental protection is right at the top of the agenda for many municipalities.
The city of Wolfratshausen is also trying to make a contribution with various projects.
The Loisachstadt focuses on one aspect that many forget: It uses its own purchases to support sustainable companies.
On the way to a sustainable community: How Wolfratshausen wants to protect the environment
The decision to no longer just look at price and quality in urban procurement in the future was made in February 2020. City hall employee Alexandra von Alvensleben explained at the latest city council meeting how the project was going. The city has agreed not to switch over all procurement from now on, but to proceed step by step. “We first devoted ourselves to printing paper and office supplies,” explained Alvensleben. This alone is a large area of activity: the administration uses around 700,000 sheets of paper every year. By switching to completely recycled paper, the city could save 10,464 kilograms of wood - in a single year. In addition, there would be energy and water savings of around 61 percent each. A considerable part of the CO2 emissions would also be eliminated.
Wolfratshausen: With the "Blue Angel" to more sustainability
The city has trained some employees in terms of sustainable procurement and is now buying via a central order - this should pay off financially because volume discounts apply to large deliveries.
In principle, products certified with a seal are purchased, such as the “Blue Angel” or the “Ecolabel” of the European Union.
Alexandra von Alvensleben also looked to the future: The city wants to expand the sustainability concept to other areas of everyday life, such as print products, office furniture or IT.
The municipality has already made a start with company cell phones and vehicles.
New cars in the city's fleet are electric vehicles, and company cell phones are sustainably produced.
Environmental protection: City councils propose further measures - paper consumption is immense
Third Mayor Annette Heinloth (Greens) suggested using regional, ecological and plastic-free items when shopping for food in the city and its subsidiaries.
Manfred Menke (SPD) suggested checking whether the fleet of e-vehicles could be supplied with electricity that it produced itself - for example through PV systems.
As town hall chief Klaus Heilinglechner replied, this has already been checked: "This is only possible on a very small scale and not in a way that would be efficient."
Save paper?
A question of time - "The paperless office is coming"
Menke also asked whether there were efforts to reduce the municipality's immense paper consumption.
Kirsten Vogler, Managing Director of the City Hall, considers this to be a question of time: “With increasing digitalization, the paperless office is becoming more and more popular.” For example, forms and applications are being filled out more and more online.
Green politician Heinloth gave her colleagues in the Loisachhalle a tip: "There are still city councilors to whom the meeting documents are sent in printed form - there alone is great potential for savings."