After the party on the street: Christmas trees are increasingly being disposed of illegally.
"The general public has to bear the costs," says the Stadtwerke boss.
Wolfratshausen - These days, many people part with their Christmas tree.
Most of the collection campaigns fell victim to the corona pandemic again.
Some tree owners therefore - illegally - dump their once neat Nordmann firs on public green spaces or in forests.
In an interview with our volunteer Dominik Stallein, Stadtwerke boss Thomas Fritz explains who has to clean up at the end.
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Thomas Fritz, head of the Wolfratshausen public utilities
© Sabine Hermsdorf-Hiss
Mr Fritz, as in the Ikea advertisement, some Wolfratshausers throw their discarded Christmas trees on the street. Who will clean it all up again?
Fritz
: Inevitably, this work is left to the building yard employees.
We do this for two reasons: On the one hand, we naturally take the illegally disposed of trees with us so that they are no longer lying around all over the city.
Unfortunately, the costs that arise as a result are ultimately borne by the general public.
On the other hand, we also want to increase the inhibition threshold for people who still have their tree at home: If there are still many Christmas trees lying around in the meadows or on the street, some may be more likely to throw theirs.
If we take them with us, it will hopefully be more difficult for people to dispose of the tree in an empty space and possibly be watched.
How often have your employees been looking for trees this year?
Fritz
: We don't actively look for old Christmas trees.
But my colleagues are regularly out and about all over the city anyway.
If you see one - or unfortunately mostly several - trees on the tour, collect them.
In the past few years there have been collections from associations. Because of the corona pandemic, some are canceled. Has that made the problem worse?
Fritz
: Unfortunately, that can be assumed, yes, even though we unfortunately also observed the basic problem in previous years.
This year only the Weidach boys' association collected in two districts.
The large annual event of the BRK had to be canceled due to the corona.
I fear that as a result, even more people will illegally dispose of their tree.
It is, as you say, forbidden. How often can the rubbish offenders be identified?
Fritz
: Almost not at all.
The only chance is to catch someone red-handed.
You can then explain where the tree has to be disposed of.
But once they are in the landscape, there is usually hardly any way to find the cause afterwards, unless an attentive neighbor gives us a hint.
Where do you take the collected trees?
Fritz
: To the recycling center - that is, to where every citizen should bring his tree.
You can do that for free, by the way.
The plant is then either composted or used to generate energy, meaning it is used in a meaningful way.
One often hears the argument that handing it in at the recycling center is cumbersome or even impossible.
I can not comprehend that.
People have also managed to transport the tree in its entirety to their home.
Then it should actually be possible to drive it away again in individual parts.